Hate speech encourages a climate of violence and repression against marginalised groups, including legitimising the use of violence at their detriment. Those who publicly disseminate this vice, wish to present it as “normal”, their views acceptable and even justified. In situations where the spread and influence of this ill is not prevented, such malignant ideas find fertile soil, become socially acceptable and can produce negative and dangerous consequences in societies. Words matter!!! They are the connective fabric of collective life and the omission in perceiving how people can be influenced by words which can lead to serious and dangerous situations. Hate speech must be analysed from the perspective of the intended purpose and the effect that such speech induces or wishes to induce. It must also be assessed in the context of a given society and its historical, cultural, political and all other important aspects. In respect to that, since each form of speech occurs within a certain historical and cultural context, a speech which is not hate speech in one context, may become hate speech in another.

Online hate speech in particular might seem impossible to stop, but governments, civil society and individuals are taking action, including tapping the power of education, to fight back. Tackling the issue from an educational perspective involves strengthening policies and initiatives with specific measures to address and counter this scourge, helping people develop critical thinking and become active citizens who support peace and human rights. Hate speech is in full attack mode, amplified by new technologies that spread divisive rhetoric across the globe. We all have seen the harm it does, sparking violence, exclusion, discrimination and inequality. 

Just two months after the organisation of a National Symposium in Cameroon by #defyhatenow/ Civic Watch and the Department of Sociology from the University of Yaounde I, we have from then been invited to many state and private media stations to discuss how our organisation works in countering this scourge be it online or offline. Reason why at this very interview where Ngala Desmond #defyhatenow country representative was a guest on Cameroon national station; CRTV radio 88.8MHz to talk with other members of civil society organisations on ways to countering hate speech and contributing to a #HateFreeCameroon. In his intervention, during the program Ngala Desmond shared as he argues: Hate speech can be eradicated through collective efforts towards curbing its spread, by building the resilience of local communities. It takes a personal commitment to say no to hate, to choose to champion peaceful actions and behaviours. The moment we all think in the same direction, we will find positive results. Unfortunately, hate mongers will always exist and continue propagating vices for reasons best known to them. That is why as Civic Watch, we lay emphasis on reshaping mind-sets, setting the pace as role models and showing the path to follow, so that peace lovers can own their development processes. The moment we stop attaching prejudices to people based on their background and rather see them simply as humans, we would build a stronger and prosperous society. 

That is why over the years, at #defyhatenow, we have discussed and continue to discuss with the public, the consequences of hate speech and how it can be mitigated through individual actions that aim at creating safe spaces online and offline for citizens and the media to interact with each other and chat matters in a fruitful and informed manner.

The battle is a continuous one!!!

#HateFreeCameroon #Media4peace  #NoToHate  

S’unir pour Éradiquer le Discours de Haine par des Efforts Collectifs

Le discours de haine encourage un climat de violence et de répression à l’encontre des groupes marginalisés, notamment en légitimant le recours à la violence contre eux. Ceux qui diffusent publiquement des discours de haine souhaitent les présenter comme “normaux” et leurs points de vue comme acceptables, voire justifiés. Lorsque la diffusion et l’influence des discours de haine ne sont pas empêchées, ces idées malveillantes trouvent un terreau fertile, deviennent socialement acceptables et peuvent avoir des conséquences négatives et dangereuses pour les sociétés. Les mots sont importants. Ils constituent le tissu conjonctif de la vie collective et le fait de ne pas percevoir comment les gens peuvent être influencés par les mots peut conduire à des situations graves et dangereuses. Le discours de haine doit être analysé du point de vue de l’objectif visé et de l’effet que ce discours induit ou souhaite induire. Il doit également être évalué dans le contexte d’une société donnée et de ses aspects historiques, culturels, politiques et autres. À cet égard, étant donné que chaque forme de discours s’inscrit dans un certain contexte historique et culturel, un discours qui n’est pas un discours de haine dans un contexte donné peut devenir un discours de haine dans un autre contexte.

Les discours de haine en ligne, en particulier, peuvent sembler impossibles à arrêter, mais les gouvernements, la société civile et les individus prennent des mesures, notamment en exploitant le pouvoir de l’éducation, pour lutter contre ces discours. Aborder la question sous l’angle de l’éducation implique de renforcer les politiques et les initiatives par des mesures spécifiques visant à aborder et à contrer le discours de haine, à aider les gens à développer une pensée critique et à devenir des citoyens actifs qui soutiennent la paix et les droits de l’homme. Le discours de haine est en pleine offensive, amplifié par les nouvelles technologies qui diffusent une rhétorique de division à travers le monde. Nous avons tous constaté le mal qu’il fait, en suscitant la violence, l’exclusion, la discrimination et l’inégalité.

Deux mois seulement après l’organisation d’un colloque national au Cameroun par #defyhatenow/ Civic Watch et le département de sociologie de l’université de Yaoundé 1, nous avons depuis lors été invités dans de nombreuses stations de médias publiques et privées pour discuter de la façon dont notre organisation travaille pour contrer ce fléau, que ce soit en ligne ou hors ligne. La raison pour laquelle à cette interview même où Ngala Desmond représentant pays de #defyhatenow était un invité sur la station nationale du Cameroun; CRTV radio 88.8MHz pour parler en compagnie d’autres membres des organisations de la société civile sur les moyens de contrer le discours de haine et de contribuer à #UnCamerounSansHaine. 

Dans son intervention, au cours de l’interview, Ngala Desmond dit: “Le discours de haine peut être éradiqué grâce à des efforts collectifs visant à freiner sa propagation, en renforçant la résilience des communautés locales. Il faut un engagement personnel pour dire non à la haine, pour choisir de défendre des actions et des comportements pacifiques. Dès lors que nous pensons tous dans la même direction, nous obtenons des résultats positifs. Malheureusement, les semeurs de haine existeront toujours et continueront à propager des vices pour les raisons qu’ils connaissent le mieux. C’est pourquoi, en tant que Civic Watch, nous mettons l’accent sur le remodelage des mentalités, en donnant le ton en tant que modèles et en montrant la voie à suivre, afin que les amoureux de la paix puissent s’approprier leur processus de développement. Lorsque nous cesserons d’attacher des préjugés aux personnes en fonction de leurs origines et que nous les considérons simplement comme des êtres humains, nous construirons une société plus forte et plus prospère”. 

#NonALaHaine  #Media4peace   #UnCamerounSansHaine

The #defyhatenow initiative works on providing community-based and data-driven solutions to the problem of hate speech, disinformation and misinformation globally. Our work focuses on creating a framework for increasing trust between stakeholders through mobilising civic action against all forms of online/offline hate speech and incitement to violence.  The initiative is hosted in Cameroon by Civic Watch, a non-profit youth led community-based organisation. Civic Watch amongst other roles, acts as an intermediary organisation that engages schools, and encourages confident civic debate in public spaces with the aim of creating self confident and tolerant people within Cameroon. Its main goal merges with the initiative’s mandate, which is community mobilisation to counter hateful rhetoric among young people both online and offline.

#defyhatenow was initiated in early 2014 by r0g_agency for open culture and critical transformation gGmbH (Berlin), and supported from 2015 through 2018, with means of the German Federal Foreign Office via the ifa/zivik programme for civic conflict resolution as a comprehensive programme “Mobilising Civic Action Against Hate Speech and Directed Social Media Incitement to Violence in South Sudan” and after 2016 including its neighbouring countries Kenya, Uganda and Sudan. In 2019 the #defyhatenow community based organisation was legally registered in South Sudan, while further crisis intervention initiatives have been introduced in Cameroon, Ethiopia and Sudan.

Trapped in a range of conflicts and tensions threatening peace in many regions of the country, Cameroon has witnessed an upsurge in hate speech, incitement to violence and mis/disinformation which has negatively affected the peaceful cohesion on which the country was built. Social media have increasingly been used as a tool to fan the flames of tensions and conflicts in Cameroon as many have suffered from attacks on the different platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Instagram and more). These attacks have proven to be manifested offline in diverse forms ranging from defamation, harassment, destruction of properties and at times loss of lives, justifying the growing insecurity that has characterised most communities in Cameroon. Thus the need for initiatives to promote peace and social cohesion proved to be more than ever essential. 

The importance of introducing the #defyhatenow initiative in Cameroon in 2019 came just in time when these ills were escalating and the need to mitigate the ravaging flames was dire. With the need to raise awareness and develop means/tools to counter social media based hate speech, conflict rhetoric and directed online incitement to violence and to amplify the voices of ‘positive influencers’, there was great need to leverage efforts and mitigation actions deployed in different countries to Cameroon. 

For six years running, the two English speaking regions of Cameroon have been caught in an armed separatist conflict, with a devastating human and material loss in Cameroon. The mass destruction of properties and loss of lives has forced thousands to flee their homes, relocating in “safer” regions or out of the country. The conflict in the North West, South West, North and Far North regions has affected pupils, students and the teaching and learning process in Conflict hit regions in Cameroon. Attacks on schools and students including school administrators rapidly became very rampant with civilian population suffering casualties. According to the Human Rights Watch Report, over 850 000 children have been out of school since the start of the crisis. Although school gates and classrooms have gradually reopened in most communities, the safety of children, teachers and school administration is still a major call for concern in some communities. A direct impact of the crisis has been an unaccountable loss of lives recorded in these parts of the country, both on the separatist and military sides, with civilian casualties included; destruction of properties through mass burnings, kidnappings and displacement of persons in their undetermined numbers. 

It is light of the above that #defyhatenow calls on the use of pens (PenNotGun) to find solutions to problems plaguing our communities, and not use guns. Education and not Violence! The overall objective is to stress the importance of education, a cornerstone to development; raise awareness on the negative impacts of violence education, especially for future generations. Our greatest hope is to see school environments void of violence, this academic year and the years to come. We also call on all parties to seek dialogue channels towards resolving their differences, preserving #Education, saving the lives of children and those who have taken up the responsibility to mould the minds of our future leaders. Schools can be hubs for peace building in the communities where they are situated and the role of education in peace and resilience building remains very critical because it plays a transformative role. Education is the bedrock of a prosperous future for all !

#defyhatenow and its partner Civic Watch are resolute in mobilising online/offline community action to jointly call for the drop of weapons (guns) and immediate end to attacks on students, teachers and school administration for a peaceful and #HateFreeCameroon.