Most Canadians are more than happy to support free speech, believing it to be the foundation of democracy. But for speech to be free it must be aligned to freedom itself.
New laws, new tools and new research is required to combat the rise in online hate. That means both regulating social media companies, and making use of technology to help measure compliance.
Social media posts since Gerald Stanley’s acquittal have been saturated with vitriolic rants and myths. If reconciliation is to be more than an aspiration, settlers must acknowledge our culpability.
Facebook is unwittingly helping fuel a genocide against the Rohingya people in Myanmar. Does Cuba’s internet model provide lessons to manage social media amid political chaos?
As Canadians, we shouldn’t blame U.S. President Donald Trump for the rise of hatred here. He may have emboldened the so-called alt-right in Canada, but it was flourishing long before his election.
Many are calling for government to step in to stop bots and the spread of fake news on sites like Facebook and Twitter. A media expert explains why this is a slippery slope.
There has been a 600 per cent increase in online hate speech since Nov. 2015. The solution to stop the tide lies in both anti-hate laws and self-awareness education for audiences.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
Assistant Professor, Educational Technology, Chair in Educational Leadership in the Innovative Pedagogical Practices in Digital Contexts - National Bank, Université Laval
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University