Is increased regulations and tougher sentences enough to tackle online hate speech?

By Poornima Karunacadacharan, Rota – ENGLAND (March 2018)

A survey carried out for Holocaust Memorial Day found that more than one quarter of Britons have witnessed hate speech in the last one year. The majority of cases were on social media and used anti-immigrant, anti-refugee, racist, or Islamophobic language.  The survey found that 82% of those who came across hate speech believed that social media companies should do more to tackle hate speech online[1].

The Brexit referendum in June 2016 and the triggering of Article 50 in 2017 as predicted saw a significant spike in hate crime and online hate speech.  Following the referendum Amber Rudd the Home Secretary responded to the surge in Hate Crime by publishing the Government’s ‘Hate Crime Action Plan’ in July 2016[2].  The ‘Action Plan’ promised tougher sentences on those who commit hate crime, and emphasised the need to tackle prejudice and racist bullying within school and community settings.  There was no acknowledgment of the link between the increase in Hate Crime and the Brexit campaign that was predicated on a racist and xenophobic debate on immigration.

The Government also set up a Home Affairs Select Committee in July 2017 to inquire into ‘Hate Crime and Its Violent Consequences’.  Due to the unexpected General Election announced in April 2017 the Committee had to cut its inquiry short focusing on just online hate speech, which it regarded as the most pressing issue.  The recommendations focused on holding social media companies to account and reviewing the legislative framework governing online hate speech.  In October 2017 the government announced a new national online hate crime hub[3].  It says this expert unit will channel all reports of online hate crime and reduce the burden on frontline officers.  It says it will ensure proper investigation of all online hate crime offences and lead to increased prosecution of online hate speech.

There is no doubt that we need better protection of victims of hate crime and more effective prosecution of those who perpetrate online hate crime.  However, there has been an increasing trend of pathologizing and criminalising communities rather than address the root cause of Hate Crime, which includes online hate speech.  Tackling hate speech requires an approach that tackles hate crime not just at individual and community level but also takes in to account the political rhetoric at policy and practice level.  It involves holding government and mainstream media to account on how issues of immigration and the right to seek asylum are debated and reported.  The years of anti-immigrant sentiment within government policies and mainstream media reporting, and the scapegoating of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers cannot be ignored when trying to understand and tackle prejudice that leads to online hate speech.

Regulations, legislative measures, and increased prosecutions are not sufficient to tackle online hate speech.  We need a change of hearts and minds as a nation.  This requires rethinking how we as a nation discuss race, immigration, and the right to asylum.

[1] Caroline Davies (2018), ‘One quarter of Britons witnessed hate speech in the past year, poll finds’ Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/27/uk-hate-speech-poll-holocaust-memorial-day-2018

[2] Hate Crime Action Plan 2016, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hate-crime-action-plan-2016

[3] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/home-secretary-announces-new-national-online-hate-crime-hub