Backgrounds, Experiences and Responses to Online Hate Speech: a Comparative Cross-Country Analysis

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Backgrounds, Experiences and Responses to Online Hate Speech: a Comparative Cross-Country Analysis Backgrounds, Experiences and Responses to Online Hate Speech: A Comparative Cross-Country Analysis This report was produced within the framework of the project "PRISM - Preventing, Redressing and Inhibiting hate speech in new Media”, co-funded by the European Union and coordinated by Associazione Arci The report was elaborated by: Olga Jubany and Malin Roiha, Universitat de Barcelona Based on the national reports by: La Ligue de l’enseignement, France (M. Roturier, E-L. Gay & M. Schoger) ARCI and CITTALIA, Italy (M. Giovannetti & C. Minicucci) FDP, Romania (I. Codreanu) UB, Spain (O. Jubany, M. Roiha, J. Bestard & A. Martínez) ROTA, UK (R-E. Preotescu) Disclaimer The content of this report does not reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Responsibility for the information and views expressed therein lies entirely with the authors. 2 Table of Contents PART I – Setting the Scene....................................................................................................................... 5 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1. Definitions of hate speech ....................................................................................................... 6 1.2. Previous research and concepts in relation to online hate speech ........................................ 7 2. Methodology, scope and sample .................................................................................................. 11 2.1. State-of-the-Art ..................................................................................................................... 11 2.2. Mapping of far right groups’ uses of social media ................................................................ 11 2.3. Interviews with professionals and young social media users ............................................... 12 PART II – Analysing the data: Transnational comparison ...................................................................... 14 3. Freedom of speech versus hate speech ........................................................................................ 14 4. Contexts and target groups of hate speech .................................................................................. 16 5. Hate speech on social media and other online channels .............................................................. 17 5.1. Mapping of online hate speech: Uses of social media by xenophobic groups ..................... 20 5.1.1. Facebook ....................................................................................................................... 21 5.1.2. Twitter ........................................................................................................................... 22 5.1.3. YouTube ......................................................................................................................... 22 5.1.4. Content in relation to hate speech................................................................................ 22 5.1.5. Observations from the interviews ................................................................................. 23 5.1.6. Concluding observations on the social media mapping ................................................ 24 5.2. Young social media users and online hate speech ................................................................ 25 5.2.1. Uses of and approaches to social media by young people ........................................... 25 5.2.2. The concept of hate speech in the eyes of young people ............................................. 26 5.2.3. Experiences of and reflections on online hate speech .................................................. 26 6. Responses and reactions to online hate speech ........................................................................... 30 6.1. Responses and reactions by young people ........................................................................... 30 6.2. Responses and reactions to online hate speech by institutions and organizations ............. 33 6.2.1. Law enforcement agencies ............................................................................................ 33 6.2.2. Prosecution .................................................................................................................... 34 6.2.3. Civil society organizations ............................................................................................. 34 6.2.4. Media and social media ................................................................................................. 35 3 PART III - Concluding remarks and recommendations .......................................................................... 37 7. Recommendations for preventing, redressing and inhibiting online hate speech ....................... 37 7.1. Education and awareness raising .......................................................................................... 37 7.2. Responsibility of opinion makers and media professionals .................................................. 38 7.3. Legal measures and law enforcement .................................................................................. 38 7.4. Online communities and social media platforms: responsibility and transparency ............. 38 7.5. Recommendations by country .............................................................................................. 39 8. Concluding remarks ....................................................................................................................... 44 References ............................................................................................................................................. 44 Annex I: Methodological tools .............................................................................................................. 48 Annex II: National reports on online hate speech in France, Italy, Romania, Spain and the UK .......... 52 4 PART I – Setting the Scene 1. Introduction International- and EU-institutions are paying increasing attention to the phenomenon of online hate speech and acknowledge this as a growing problematic across and beyond Europe. In this regard, the 2015 ECRI report highlights online hate speech as one of the main trends of the previous year, emphasising that “hate speech through social media is rapidly increasing and has the potential to reach a much larger audience than extremist print media were able to reach previously”. Also UNESCO has recently focused on this growing issue, mapping and analysing the existing initiatives to combat online hate speech in their comprehensive 2015 report “Countering online hate speech". In addition to this, governments are recently beginning to take the issue of online hate speech more seriously, reflected for example in the plan of the French president Francois Hollande to introduce a law that would make companies like Google and Facebook accomplices in crimes of hate speech if users post content deemed extremist by the government.1 This, however, can be perceived rather as a reflection of their heightened surveillance of possible terrorist groups, than an effort to protect the rights of vulnerable groups targeted by hate speech. More interesting in this regard is the recent call from the Germany's Minister of Justice in relation to the current (September 2015) refugee crisis, to increase the efforts to combat hateful xenophobic speech. This has lead to an agreement by Facebook to work with Germany's Ministry of Justice, internet service providers, and other social networks to form a task force for flagging and removing hateful content more quickly.2 However, there is a clear gap between this growing awareness among authorities and institutions, and the actual efforts devoted to gathering empirical data on online hate speech. This is where the PRISM3 research aims to contribute, with the objective of providing research and common solutions to prevent and contrast online hate speech across Europe. The present report provides a comparative analysis of the research carried out in five European countries, France, Italy, Romania, Spain and the UK, within the framework of the PRISM project. The PRISM research is primarily qualitative, based on 149 face-to-face interviews with professionals and social media users, as well as on a mapping of the social media use by selected xenophobic and far right groups. The focus of the project is on xenophobic and racist hate speech on the Internet, with an emphasis on social media, whilst also taking into account other arenas of online interaction, such as comments sections of digital newspapers and general discussion forums. Furthermore, the qualitative part of the study has a special focus on the experiences of young social media users, as those having 1 Bloomberg, January 27, 2015, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-27/france-seeks-to- sanction-web-companies-for-posts-pushing-terror 2 Wall Street Journal September 14, 2015 “Facebook Outlines Measures to Combat Racist and Xenophobic Content”, http://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-outlines-new-measures-to-combat-racist-and-xenophobic- content-1442242351 3 “Preventing Redressing & Inhibiting Hate Speech in New Media”, 2014-2016, with financial support from the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme of the European Union. http://prismproject.eu. 5 fully integrated social media into their day-to-day living, and with potential to make a change.
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