KNOW HOW TO COMBAT HATE ON FACEBOOK, OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA

Thu 06 July 2023:

A few days back, India witnessed one of its worst train tragedies in two decades, which killed nearly 300 people. As the nation took to social media to express their shock and offer condolences, a tweet began spreading like wildfire.

The tweet, posted by a verified account on Twitter called The Random Indian (Randomsena) included an image claiming that a mosque is situated near the accident site, insinuating that Muslims were responsible for the accident as it occurred on a Friday.

However, after conducting a verification, fact-checking website Altnews revealed that it was not a mosque but a temple. Although the tweet was eventually deleted, it had already garnered 4.2 million views and was retweeted 4592 times.

The intention behind the post was clear: to ignite hatred. Sadly, the word “hate,” which should never be part of anyone’s vocabulary, has found its way into the common lexicon of social media users in India.

Indian social media platforms are increasingly becoming infamous for the hate they harbour. It is hard to go a day without witnessing hate or abuse directed towards Muslims, Dalits, or any oppressed group. The grim reality is that the roots of this problem trace back to the government.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been in hot water several times due to the accounts he follows on Twitter. The opposition has accused him of following accounts that often spread hate and use abusive language.

In contrast to offline hate speech, online hate speech is a cheap and rapid way to sow division within society. Recognizing this issue, social media companies have implemented numerous techniques to combat hateful content.

YouTube deletes hate comments

YouTube revealed that in the second quarter of 2023, it had deleted 500 million comments containing hate speech. In May alone, Meta had to remove 33.8 million posts in India from Facebook and Instagram which were aimed at promoting hatred.

Social media giants invest tremendous effort into curbing hate speech and removing a staggering number of posts. However, a significant number of widely shared tweets and posts with hateful content still manage to exist. Addressing this issue requires action at the individual level. Every social media platform provides an option to report hate speech and bullying that occur within their spaces.

As hate speech continues to skyrocket in India, it becomes the fundamental duty of every citizen to educate themselves on how to combat this issue. Reporting hate speech on every social media platform is relatively straightforward. Let’s explore the process of reporting hate crimes on major social media platforms.

Twitter

Find the tweet: Look for the tweet that contains the hate speech you want to report.
Access the reporting options:

Depending on the device you’re using, follow these steps:

On the Twitter website: Click on the three dots (“More”) below the tweet.

On the Twitter mobile app (iOS/Android): Tap on the share icon (an arrow pointing up) below the tweet.

On the Twitter mobile app (older version): Tap on the tweet to open it in full view, then tap on the share icon (an arrow pointing out of a box) at the bottom of the tweet.

Choose “Report Tweet”: Select the option that says “Report Tweet” from the menu that appears.
Pick the appropriate category: Twitter will ask you to specify the issue. Look for options like “Abuse” or “Hateful Conduct.”
Add more details (optional): You can provide more information about the hate speech if you’d like, but you can skip this step if you don’t have any additional details.
Submit the report: Click on the button to submit your report to Twitter.

Facebook

Open the Facebook post: Find the post that contains the hate speech you want to report. It could be a comment, picture, or video.
Tap the three dots: Look for three dots (usually in a row) in the post’s top-right corner. They might be inside a small circle or square.
Select “Report Post” or “Report comment”: Click on the option that says “Report post” or “Report comment.” This tells Facebook that you want to report the content because it’s inappropriate or hurtful.
Choose the reason: Facebook will ask why you report the post. Look for an option that says something like “It’s hate speech” or “It’s bullying.” Select this option to let Facebook know that someone is being mean or saying hurtful things.
Provide more information (optional): If you want, you can explain why you think it’s hate speech or how it made you feel. You can skip this step if you don’t want to write anything.
Submit the report: Click the “Submit” button to send your report to Facebook. They will review the post and take appropriate action to address the issue.

Community Standards

Facebook’s Community Standards aim to foster expression and create a safe user environment. However, not all content that may be offensive or upsetting to an individual violates these standards. The primary Community Standards cover the following areas:

Prohibition of content that incites violence or criminal behaviour.
Prohibition of content that encourages self-injury, suicide, child nudity, sexual exploitation, bullying, harassment, privacy breaches, or graphic violence.
Prohibition of objectionable content such as hate speech, adult nudity, sexual activity, or cruelty.
Maintaining integrity and authenticity by prohibiting fake profiles, misrepresentation, spamming, and spreading false news.
Respecting intellectual property rights.
It’s important to note that Facebook’s Community Standards may evolve

Instagram

Find the post: Locate the post containing the hate speech you want to report. It can be a photo, video, or comment.
Access the reporting options: Tap on the three dots (also known as the “More” button) in the post’s top-right corner. This will open a menu with several options.
Select “Report”: Choose the “Report” option from the menu. Instagram will ask you why you’re reporting the post.
Choose the reason: Select the appropriate reason for reporting hate speech. Instagram offers a list of options such as “Hate Speech or Symbols,” “Bullying or Harassment,” or “Threatening or Promoting Violence.” Choose the category that best describes the content.
Provide additional details (optional): If you wish, you can provide more context about why the content is offensive or harmful in the text box provided. This step is optional but can help Instagram better understand the situation.
Submit the report: Once you have selected the reason and, if desired, provided additional information, tap on the “Submit” button to send the report to Instagram. They will review the reported content and take appropriate action.

Users can report any content on WhatsApp that falls into the following categories:

· Illegal
· Obscene
· Defamatory
· Threatening
· Intimidating
· Harassing
· Hateful
· Racially offensive
· Ethnically offensive
· Content that encourages illegal

To report such content, users can follow these steps within the app:

On iPhone: Go to WhatsApp > Settings > About and Help > Contact Us.

It’s important to note that WhatsApp does not store any messages or data once they have been delivered to the recipient. Therefore, users may need to take screenshots or save messages as evidence before reporting.

WhatsApp may take action, including banning the user’s account, if they find that the person is sharing content that falls into the aforementioned categories. However, it’s not guaranteed that WhatsApp will always take immediate action, as they may periodically monitor the account instead.

In addition, WhatsApp offers a spam-reporting feature. When users receive a message from an unknown number, they can report that number as spam within the chat. They can also report a group as spam by accessing the “group information” and selecting the “report spam” option. Reporting spam will hide the contact or group on the user’s phone, preventing further messages from that person or group.

SOURCE: Siasat

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