Introduction
With the rapid development of network information technology, network social media is penetrating all residents’ aspects rapidly and quietly. Social media has helped people enjoy global information resources anytime and anywhere, improved lifestyles, and raised audience awareness. Meanwhile, with the help of social media, all the latest information and updates can be quickly spread. People can follow areas of interest and content and comment on them. Therefore, the development of online social media has provided a convenient way to spread online hate speech. Hate speech has been defined as “expresses, encourages, stirs up, or incites hatred against a group of individuals distinguished by a particular feature or set of characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender; Religion, Nationality, and Sexual Orientation “(Parekh, 2012). However, as technology and the Internet enter and penetrate more into residents’ daily life, online hate speech will become a social problem that needs more attention. Online hate speech, for example, is linked to different social groups. In addition, when people participate in social activities, many reasons may lead to harassment and hate speech attacks. People have different beliefs, religions, living habits, and unintentional collisions with others’ cultures. Online hate speech involves everyone in society. At the same time, with online hate speech as a point of expression, platforms must consider how to adjust content. It is essential to ensure that it complies with pre-established acceptable codes of conduct specific to the forum and its audience.
This blog will mention the new challenges online social media service providers and users face. Freedom of expression is one of the fundamental human rights protected by international law in the Internet era. Still, it does not mean freedom of hate speech and so on. To expand Internet security protection in all areas, the Australian Government has initiated the Online Safety Act to provide additional protection for Online victims. Twitch hosts have launched the A Day Off Twitch campaign to protest racism in the face of hate speech. Twitch, a service provider, is also trying to respond. In addition, I will discuss China’s experience on the world network and the Chinese Government’s solutions in the context of the free speech environment and the novel Coronavirus global pandemic.
Figure 1:https://www.esafety.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-03/Adult%20Cyber%20Abuse%20Scheme%20Regulatory%20Guidance.pdf
Adult Cyber Abuse Scheme
There is an example of how countries and service providers can regulate online hate speech and properly regulate content on online platforms. The new Online Safety Act came into effect in Australia on 23 February 2022. Under the bill, the new Adult Cyber Abuse Scheme will allow the online safety regulator eSafety to impose fines or other penalties. People who post severe abuse online against adults are mainly objecting. Adult cyber abuse means online communication to or about a person 18 years or older to cause them serious harm. Adult abuse must communicate through social media, relevant electronic, or designated internet service. It can include posts, comments, emails, messages, memes, images, and videos (eSafetyCommissioner, 2021).
eSafety is committed to helping protect Australians at risk of online harm and promoting a safer and more positive online experience. In the latest notice, Online and Electronic Services and Platforms now have only 24 hours to remove harmful content (eSafetyCommissioner, 2021). In addition, Internet service providers should ban shows or violent crimes, including child sexual abuse, terrorist acts, murder, and attempted murder. Illegal Online Content with rape, Torture, Violent kidnapping, and Suicide (eSafetyCommissioner, 2021). The above policy can quickly block terrorist attacks like the Christchurch Mosque massacre in 2019 in New Zealand. According to BBC(2019), the terrorist attack caused 49 deaths and 28 injuries, making it the deadliest attack in New Zealand. Al Noor Mosque’s atrocities were broadcast live on Facebook by a gunman who claimed to be Australian. The gunman espoused racist and anti-immigrant views and posted a document online outlining his intentions and details of his attack plans.
Individuals can reach a fine of up to $111,000, and businesses can get up to $555,000 if suppliers fail to comply with orders to remove illegal or restricted content (Pragama, 2021).
Figure 2: https://www.gq.com.au/entertainment/tech/why-are-streamers-taking-a-day-off-twitch/news-story/d0c8912dd710fd2490abac35cf61d769
A Day Off Twitch
Matatoros-Fernandez (2017) said that the impact of the Internet on racialized identities and practices had been a complex and ongoing field of identities Research. Twitch is a live streaming video platform focusing on e-sports and video games. Twitch broadcasts cover a wide range of games, including almost every genre on the market. Its monopoly position and extreme attitude toward pursuing traffic contrast with its negative management, especially the protection of marginal anchors. In regular live broadcasts, when one anchor is coming to the end of the day, he sometimes encourages viewers to continue watching another anchor’s live stream. As a result, many viewers can immediately flood into other anchors’ studios. Such “raids” are part of Twitch’s culture, often expressing one anchor’s support for another.
On Twitch, where each anchor tries to attract a larger audience, raids have become a common means of spreading popularity. However, instead of “support” from other anchor fans, Raven met “raid” or “hate raid.” Anchors have no way to predict the arrival time of hate raid in advance because all hate raid comes from live bullets. These malicious remarks are not only aimed at the contents of live broadcasts but also include personal attacks on anchors. Such comments are often challenging to clean up because they can come from bot accounts. These hate raids tend to drown out the supportive words of real fans and hinder the hosts’ normal life activities.
According to Times-News UK (2021), Raven was surprised during a live broadcast when bots attacked her chat room, asking, “Hey, are black goths called Giggers?” Raven said that being called “fat, black, and you’re a woman” were typical hate comments.
Initially, streamers posted content on the platform calling on Twitch to do more. Realizing that the hate speech was mainly about marginalized or minority anchors, Raven and her friends decided to be more proactive about it all.
On 1 September 2021, a boycott called “A Day Off Twitch” was launched on Twitch. Some streamers have collectively refused to broadcast live on Twitch. They hope to draw attention to hate speech suffered by marginalized anchors and protest against the platform’s inaction by pulling the plug.
Of course, the Twitch platform is also troubled. In the face of these increasingly rampant “hate attacks,” the forum knows that it needs to do something to protect the interests of the streamers, but exactly what to do is more complicated than expected. In February, Twitch noticed a lot of hate speech during its live stream. But Twitch, underplaying the seriousness of the situation and assuming the comments from actual viewers, merely issued a statement condemning the behavior and holding those responsible accountable. But subsequent developments have shown that hate speech comes from accounts created in large numbers using bots.
The hashtags used in live broadcasts also facilitate these “hate attacks.” Twitch includes 350 tabs on gender, sexual orientation, race, nationality, mental health, etc. The platform makes it easier for different groups to find their communities. Still, it also opened the door for hate speech to find potential victims.
A Day Off Twitch confirms the complexity of the regulation of Online Hate Speech (Gagliardone et al., 2015) as outlined in the document:
- Hate Speech online can be itinerant.
- Anonymity can also present a challenge in dealing with hate speech online.
- A further complication is the reach of the Internet, raising issues of cross-jurisdictional cooperation regarding legal mechanisms for combatting hate speech.
Figure 3: https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/us-news/trump-says-americans-have-to-make-china-virus-go-away.html
Another example is the emergence and spread of online hate speech that transcends national boundaries. Since the end of January 2019, COVID-19 has gradually emerged as a global epidemic and become the center of international discussion. The official standard term for COVID-19 established by the World Health Organization is COVID-19. However, some users on social platforms use words such as Chinese Virus or Wuhan Virus. For example, former US President Trump openly used the word “Chinese Virus” on his Twitter, which caused dissatisfaction among The Chinese community and Chinese students (Rogers et al., 2020).
On the contrary, the City Council of San Antonio in the United States voted to include the “Chinese virus” in hate Speech. It encouraged everyone to report any such anti-Semitic, discriminatory, or racist incidents to the relevant authorities (Brnger, 2020). As the center of the dispute, China firmly opposes false accusations and attacks against Chinese viruses. In the face of Coronavirus, our focus should be on novel Coronavirus and its treatment. It is not an excellent choice to focus on being the victim or disseminator of hate speech. Both countries and individuals should strengthen solidarity and cooperation, stay rational and respect science and facts.
The Internet has entered every household and become another form of interpersonal communication. As a medium, the Internet is a way to exercise freedom of expression. Still, it cannot be divorced from the basic code of conduct of freedom of expression. Hate speech by citizens of different countries increases the possibility of transnational hate crimes and terrorist crimes. Cyber problems transcend national boundaries and cannot exist in isolation. However, depending on the autonomy of the Internet, the effect of spontaneous moral supervision and resistance to hate speech is often slow and weak. So it is essential to regulate it at the international and domestic levels. The international community should maintain network security and make joint efforts to create good international communication channels. Countries should respect each other’s legislative rules on hate speech and promote international cooperation on cyber security to curb the spread of hate speech effectively.
Conclusion
Finally, there is no doubt that the impact of online hate speech on society and human development is extensive and far-reaching. In the continuous development of network technology, from the perspective of the victims of hate speech, individuals, civil organizations, Internet companies, and countries all need to attach importance to the issue of hate speech. They can play an active role in limiting the emergence and spread of online hate speech and minimizing the harm and influence. First of all, the state should strengthen the legislation. It defines hate speech at the legal level, encourages Internet enterprises to deepen the screening of online hate speech and the punishment of users, and takes an intolerant attitude towards online hate speech. In addition, personal literacy is the key to addressing hate speech online. Civil society organizations can provide free lectures and other forms of education at the social level. Therefore, individuals improve their ability to identify online hate speech. The Internet breaks through regional restrictions. It provides a platform for people in different countries to express themselves, making the spread of hate speech more independent of national boundaries. Suppose the hate speech spread in other countries is not controlled. In that case, it may intensify national and ethnic conflicts and lead to crimes. Therefore, the development of cyberspace makes it more necessary for international cooperation to control hate speech. While the extent to which hate speech is restricted and freedom of expression protected vary from country to country, the international community can still work together on this issue.
Reference
- BBC. (2019, 15 March). Christchurch shootings: 49 dead in New Zealand Mosque attacks. BBC News. Retrieved 10 April, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47578798
- Brnger, G. (2020, 8 May). San Antonio City Council passes ‘covid-19 anti-hate resolution’. KSAT. Retrieved 10 April, 2022, from https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2020/05/08/san-antonio-city-council-passes-covid-19-anti-hate-resolution/
- eSafetyCommissioner. (2021). Adult Cyber Abuse Scheme Regulatory Guidance. Retrieved 9 April, 2022, from https://www.esafety.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-03/Adult%20Cyber%20Abuse%20Scheme%20Regulatory%20Guidance.pdf
- eSafetyCommissioner. (2021). How the online safety act supports those most at risk online. Retrieved 9 April, 2022, from https://www.esafety.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-03/How%20the%20OSA%20supports%20those%20most%20at%20risk.pdf
- Gagliardone, I., Gal, D., Alves, T., & Martínez, G. (2015). Countering online hate speech. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.
- Matatoros-Fernandez, A. (2017). Platformed racism: the mediation and circulation of an Australian race-based controversy on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, Information, Communication & Society 20(6), pp. 930-946.
- Parekh, B. (2012, 5 June). Is there a case for banning hate speech? (chapter 2) – the content and context of hate speech. Cambridge Core. Retrieved 9 April, 2022, from https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139042871.006
- Pragma. (2021, 8 February). Proposed legislation to impose record-high fines for trolls. Pragma.law. Retrieved 9 April, 2022, from https://pragma.law/2021/02/08/proposed-legislation-to-impose-record-high-fines-for-trolls/
- Rogers, K., Jakes, L., & Swanson, A. (2020, 18 March). Trump defends using ‘Chinese virus’ label, ignoring growing criticism. The New York Times. Retrieved 10 April, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/us/politics/china-virus.html
- Times-News UK. (2021, 1 September). Twitch users are calling for awareness #ADayOffTwitch. Times-News UK. Retrieved 10 April, 2022, from https://timesnewsuk.com/business/twitch-users-are-calling-for-awareness-adayofftwitch/