Schools and universities have a responsibility to protect students from hate speech while also exposing them to views that disrupt their ways of thinking and ideas of the world.
Kenyan authorities have arrested two WhatsApp group administrators for alleged hate speech.
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Kenya has published hate speech guidelines that target WhatsApp groups administrators, holding them responsible for offensive content.
Private companies are policing online hate without independent oversight or regulation, which has serious implications and poses risks for basic human rights and freedoms.
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After violence in Charlottesville, internet firms are erasing bigoted content. But should private companies serve as unaccountable regulators and be responsible for policing complex social issues?
A man sporting a Nazi tattoo leaves Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Virginia on Aug. 12, 2017.
Steve Helber/AP Photo
Given recent events, you might have had an inkling that extremist views have been resonating. Researchers from the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention have the hard data to back it up.
There are fears a new bill that seeks to criminalise hate speech in South Africa might infringe freedom of expression.
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The growing incidence of racism on social media in South Africa suggests that there are consequences. Whether there ought to be criminal sanctions remains an ongoing debate.
Inflammatory speech has often found fertile ground in Kenya's election campaign period. As the country approaches another political cliff-hanger, law enforcement agencies have their work cut out.
Liberal MP Ian Goodenough is chairing a parliamentary inquiry into freedom of speech in Australia.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Neither Galaxy Research nor the Institute of Public Affairs think-tank discussed the most interesting data they garnered from polling on free speech and reform to Section 18C.
Whom do we become in online comments?
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A minor change, substituting 'vilify' for 'offend' and 'insult', would bring Section 18C more in line with similar laws in other democracies without undermining its effectiveness.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks at a conference for her party.
AP Photo/Martin Meissner
In reelection bid, Merkel's not just up against a xenophobic, nationalist party in Germany. In the wake of Trump’s election, liberal democracies around the world hope she'll defend them, too.
Trump has given extremists a high-profile stage, but in the process exposed them to the disinfecting sunlight.
Protestants hold a Sunday service in the open air in Jakarta. Their efforts to erect their own church buildings have been blocked by hardline Muslim groups.
Cherian George
Messages on social media reportedly fuelled the burning of Buddhist temples in Indonesia last month. Laws against hate speech are widely ignored and weakly policed.
The government claims changes to Section 18C are no longer on its agenda.
AAP/Dan Himbrechts
Section 18C is limited in scope, and it would thus be wrong to claim that free speech carte blanche is under threat.
A survivor stands in the graveyard where a church was torched in Eldoret, 300km west of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. The consequences of hate speech are evident in the country.
Reuters/Noor Khamis
The violence that often accompanies political disputes or elections is testimony to the efficacy of hate propaganda as a tool in the political arsenal of Kenyan politicians.
Depends on how you define ‘hate speech’.
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Social media companies have agreed to a European plan to take down offensive material within 24 hours. Will it work and if so, can it be extended to other regions?
