Online hate is all around us - what are we going to do about this?
We comms professionals often find ourselves as the immediate recipients of abuse on company or client social media accounts, and for that matter, through other channels.
And while some of us will have thicker skins than others, the tactic of “don’t let it get to you” or “don't think about it” never really cuts it.
As a volunteer with Charities Against Hate (CAH), there’s barely a day that goes by without seeing a news story which is relevant to our work, from sports stars being abused to influencers suffering or even instigating hate campaigns, and so many other variations on the above. And as someone who spends a fair chunk of time on Twitter, I’m never more than couple of clicks away from the sort of behaviour which, if performed face-to-face, we would expect to cause outrage and substantial consequences.
It should be a real concern that we’re in a place where the digital sphere is so infested with hatred and abuse, and the response is just that we have to brush it off.
But just as it is upsetting to see that proliferation of online hate, it has been heartening as a CAH volunteer in the last couple of years to find that there are plenty of organisations trying to do something about it.
Since it was created in mid-2020, CAH has been playing its role by, among other things, encouraging UK charities to join a boycott of Facebook advertising over the platforms inaction on hate speech, publishing a Guide to Best Practice in Ethical Digital Marketing & Comms Practices, which is freely accessible on our website; and launching a suite of product recommendations for social media companies.
In late 2021, our member Charity Digital hosted an online event looking back at some of the lessons learned, and forward to what the next stage of CAH should look like. As we continue that process, we have launched an online hate experience survey to collect insights into this scourge, as well as ideas for what support we can provide the charity sector in future. Whether you work for a charity or not, your input would be greatly appreciated.
Sam Burne James is an independent communications consultant and a volunteer with Charities Against Hate. Complete CAH’s survey here and follow the group on Twitter or LinkedIn.
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