In Charlottesville, Americans watched barriers to Dangerous Speech go down in broad daylight, in the middle of a city, as extremists waved swastikas and chanted hateful slogans. Some people are taking matters into their own hands, reaching out to masses of others to identify and punish marchers in the ‘Unite the Right’ rally, but online shaming often goes too far, reaching into a person’s offline life to inflict punishment
Read MoreIn this essay, Susan Benesch points out that content ‘takedown’ by Internet companies is not the only solution to harmful speech online. She highlights projects organized by civil society – not governments or platforms – to diminish harmful speech and support its targets. It was published by the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society in a collection of essays on harmful speech online.
Read MoreThe extremist violence in Charlottesville didn’t come out of the blue: it has been brewing, openly, for a long time. Donald Trump should have been prepared to denounce it. He wasn’t, and that only legitimizes the hate-fueled movement.
Read MoreKenya, which has seen all too much Dangerous Speech before elections, and violence after them, has been relatively free of both in period leading to its next presidential vote on August 8. This has just changed. The tortured corpse of Chris Msando, the Kenyan elections official in charge of electronic voting machines, was found in a forest outside Nairobi on Saturday.
Read MoreSocial norms can be powerful bulwarks against Dangerous Speech, but new evidence indicates social norms can change suddenly during elections.
Read MoreLouisiana Congressman Clay Higgins called for “radicalised Islamic suspects” to be hunted down and killed in a Facebook post. He repeatedly used the phrase “kill them all.” This is Dangerous Speech, and it is unacceptable.
Read MoreIn light of recent reports of Chechen authorities capturing and torturing gay men, this blog post examines how government actions, policies, and laws can emerge from and reinforce violent social norms.
Read MoreThis blog post provides an update on some of our major projects including our work to collect new examples of Dangerous Speech from around the world and our study of effective responses to harmful speech.
Read MoreIn France’s first round of presidential elections, more than seven million voters chose Marine Le Pen, who promises to suspend all immigration and ban Muslim headscarves. Skillful appeals to a fear of foreigners and a loathing of elites are widespread across Europe, with fierce anti-Islam sentiment as a common denominator for the continent’s far-right parties.
Read MoreWhen Sweden suffered a terrorist attack, Prime Minister Lofven responded by affirming civic values. Other world leaders should do the same.
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