What is Hate Speech?
The term Hate Speech is the subject of intense debate, and people rarely agree on what it means.
Concerned communities define and experience hate as any incident that targets an individual/group based on their age, color, religion, disability (physical or mental), race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and so on. That can be intolerance, discrimination, hostility, harassment, hate, mistreatment, prejudice, bigotry, injustice, favoritism, homophobia, xenophobia, racism, tendency, ageism, privilege, marginalization, retaliation, bullying, incivility, stereotyping, and microaggressions. The perpetrator can be an individual, organization, government agency, etc.
What makes certain words, phrases, or expressions into hate speech is complex and usually involves a combination of elements from history, society, culture, belief or ideology, and personal experience.
Here are some themes or "red flags" most commonly found in dangerous/hate speech messaging.
The following is provided through the Dangerous Speech Project.
Dehumanization
Describing other people in ways that deny or diminish their humanity, for example by comparing them to disgusting or deadly animals, insects, bacteria, or demons. Crucially, this makes violence seem acceptable.
Accusation in a Mirror
Asserting that the audience faces serious and often mortal threats from the target group - in other words, reversing reality by suggesting that the victims of a genocide will instead commit it. The term ‘accusation in a mirror’ was found in a guide for making propaganda, discovered in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. Accusation in a mirror makes violence seem necessary by convincing people that they face a mortal threat, which they can fend off only with violence. This is a very powerful rhetorical move since it is the collective analogue of the one ironclad defense to murder: self-defense. If people feel violence is necessary for defending themselves, their group, and especially their children, it seems not only justified but virtuous.
Assertion of Attack on Women/Girls
Suggesting that women or girls of the audience’s group have been threatened, harassed, or defiled by members of a target group. In many cases, the purity of a group’s women is symbolic of the purity of the group itself, or of its identity or way of life.
Coded Language
Including phrases and words that have a special meaning, shared by the speaker and audience. The speaker is therefore capable of communicating two messages, one understood by those with knowledge of the coded language and one understood by everyone else. This can make the speech more dangerous in a few ways. For example, the coded language could be deeply rooted in the audience members’ sense of identity or shared history and therefore evoke disdain for an opposing group. It can also make the speech harder to identify and counter for those who are not familiar with it.
Impurity/Contamination
Giving the impression that one or more members of a target group might damage the purity or integrity or cleanliness of the audience group. Members of target groups have been compared to rotten apples that can spoil a whole barrel of good apples, weeds that threaten crops, or stains on a dress.
The term Hate Speech is the subject of intense debate, and people rarely agree on what it means.
Concerned communities define and experience hate as any incident that targets an individual/group based on their age, color, religion, disability (physical or mental), race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and so on. That can be intolerance, discrimination, hostility, harassment, hate, mistreatment, prejudice, bigotry, injustice, favoritism, homophobia, xenophobia, racism, tendency, ageism, privilege, marginalization, retaliation, bullying, incivility, stereotyping, and microaggressions. The perpetrator can be an individual, organization, government agency, etc.
What makes certain words, phrases, or expressions into hate speech is complex and usually involves a combination of elements from history, society, culture, belief or ideology, and personal experience.
Here are some themes or "red flags" most commonly found in dangerous/hate speech messaging.
The following is provided through the Dangerous Speech Project.
Dehumanization
Describing other people in ways that deny or diminish their humanity, for example by comparing them to disgusting or deadly animals, insects, bacteria, or demons. Crucially, this makes violence seem acceptable.
Accusation in a Mirror
Asserting that the audience faces serious and often mortal threats from the target group - in other words, reversing reality by suggesting that the victims of a genocide will instead commit it. The term ‘accusation in a mirror’ was found in a guide for making propaganda, discovered in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. Accusation in a mirror makes violence seem necessary by convincing people that they face a mortal threat, which they can fend off only with violence. This is a very powerful rhetorical move since it is the collective analogue of the one ironclad defense to murder: self-defense. If people feel violence is necessary for defending themselves, their group, and especially their children, it seems not only justified but virtuous.
Assertion of Attack on Women/Girls
Suggesting that women or girls of the audience’s group have been threatened, harassed, or defiled by members of a target group. In many cases, the purity of a group’s women is symbolic of the purity of the group itself, or of its identity or way of life.
Coded Language
Including phrases and words that have a special meaning, shared by the speaker and audience. The speaker is therefore capable of communicating two messages, one understood by those with knowledge of the coded language and one understood by everyone else. This can make the speech more dangerous in a few ways. For example, the coded language could be deeply rooted in the audience members’ sense of identity or shared history and therefore evoke disdain for an opposing group. It can also make the speech harder to identify and counter for those who are not familiar with it.
Impurity/Contamination
Giving the impression that one or more members of a target group might damage the purity or integrity or cleanliness of the audience group. Members of target groups have been compared to rotten apples that can spoil a whole barrel of good apples, weeds that threaten crops, or stains on a dress.
The Dangerous Speech Project provides detailed information and resources for identifying and counteracting dangerous speech.
For an in-depth look at the elements of Dangerous Speech/Hate Speech, please go Here.
To Download Guidelines for monitoring and evaluating Dangerous Speech/Hate Speech, please go Here.
For an in-depth look at the elements of Dangerous Speech/Hate Speech, please go Here.
To Download Guidelines for monitoring and evaluating Dangerous Speech/Hate Speech, please go Here.
