HAKAM Comment: We must continue to be aware of such “networks of hate”, as well as guard against and counter all forms of hate speech.
IN the global growing atmosphere of increasing hate speech, the lines are more blurred now than they have historically been.
Gone are the days of leaders and politicians taking to the pulpit to openly condemn any one group as the root of all national problems and calling for their removal – the days of the Hitler-esque approach are thankfully over – but the hate is still there and being disseminated in just as an effective and possibly more pervasive manner.
More sophisticated methods are used these days by those seeking power to garner support and curry favour with a particular demographic, methods that ultimately absolve them of any direct responsibility should hate crimes occur.
A “network” of hate is being cultivated to spread the message using multiple actors such as paid media, paid “experts”, party funders, extremist groups and junior politicians, as has been seen in a number of cases in Asia and across the globe.
“Multiple actors produce a climate of rising intolerance in an uncoordinated but mutually reinforcing way,” Cherian George, associate professor of journalism at Hong Kong Baptist University and author of Hate Spin: The Manufacture of Religious Offense and its Threat to Democracy, told Asian Correspondent. Read more
