Countering hate speech through counter speech
Anyone who encounters hate speech on the Internet often feels powerless and resigned. Yet there are effective strategies to defend oneself, to contradict, to protect oneself or to protect others - counter speech. This counter speech is important because study results indicate that unchallenged hate speech can have a variety of negative effects on readers.
Children and young people who are still developing their personalities are particularly at risk of thinking a toxic tone is normal and, in the worst case, adopting it themselves. In addition, the Internet is a space in which they move around on a daily basis. They have a right to be able to use this space without fear of hate comments and insults.
An overview of the current state of research as well as information on a variety of projects that empower counter speech can be found in the current conference proceedings of jugendschutz.net: Counter Speech 2019 - Strategies against Hate on the Net.
More on the topic
- klicksafe: Info & Materials on Hate Speech
- klicksafe: Flyer "Dare and intervene! Show civil courage!"
- SELMA: Toolkit against Hate Speech
- Hate on the net: Info and reporting option