By Benjamin von Wyl
Hate speech is considered a threat to society and democracy. At a time when Facebook and Instagram allow more statements, the commitment of volunteers who respond to hate – with so-called counterspeech – is becoming more important.
[ . . . ]Opponents of content moderation for counterspeech
The Institute “The Future of Free Speech” at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee recommends this counterspeech study by ETH Zurich in its Counterspeech Toolkit.
Interestingly, even fundamental critics of content moderation who place a high value on freedom of speech support counterspeech strategies. Jacob Mchangama and Natalie Alkiviadou of this institute described in an anthology on counterspeech in 2023 that “censorious content moderation” has often harmed dissidents in Syria and Afghanistan who have resisted official propaganda.
According to Mchangama and Alkiviadou, YouTube has used automated content moderation to delete thousands of videos in which Syrian opposition members documented the civil war. If the EU wants “what is illegal offline to be illegal online,” this will be to the detriment of queer people in Hungary – where there is an anti-LGBT law – or those critical of religion in Spain – where blasphemy is a criminal offense.
For Mchangama and Alkiviadou, counterspeech is the only approach to combat hate on the Internet.
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Jacob Mchangama is the Founder and Executive Director of The Future of Free Speech. He is also a research professor at Vanderbilt University and a Senior Fellow at The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
Natalie Alkiviadou is a Senior Research Fellow at The Future of Free Speech. Her research interests lie in the freedom of expression, the far-right, hate speech, hate crime, and non-discrimination.