Comms professionals are facing an ‘onslaught of hate’ around DEI

Communicators are a hardy bunch. We have to be prepared to fend off criticism or to weather a storm.

And when it comes to storms the topic of inclusion, EDI, DEI or the commonly used street name ‘wokeness’, has been brewing for some time, and it’s testing the resilience of even the most dogged of practitioners.

Recent political events in the US and our own local elections have released a thunderclap of feeling from people with renewed desire to challenge organisations and people who publicly support inclusion initiatives.

In the early days of social media, a thunderclap was a tactic to get attention for a particular issue, campaign or awareness day. Many accounts all flooding networks with similar messages to get notice.

That’s not too dissimilar to what is now happening to spread a political anti-view of inclusion. Call it a thunderclap or a pile on, what is clear is that social media posts supporting inclusion – including religious festivals, Pride events or awareness months – are being flooded with anti-EDI sentiment.

This has hit my normally resilient team of fire and rescue communicators hard recently. We’re proud of our values and desire to support anyone in need. We’ve been used to rebutting the odd comment, but three situations in particular recently – International Women’s Day, Ramadan and supporting a local Pride festival – have led to an onslaught of hate.

“Woke nonsense!” said one commenter, “virtue signalling clowns,” said another. Some gave us advice: “You need to stick to fighting fires and not appeasing minorities”.  These were the tame ones, many more were using hateful, offensive language. And they came in numbers, shouting down anyone with a counterview.

This not only undermines the intention of these posts, but it also runs the risk of normalising the narrative and behaviour, especially if the counterview is silenced.

For people who are within the minority groups being targeted, this can be a demoralising experience, as it can for those communicators who have to view the comments.

How communicators, leaders and organisations respond to this is critical. It’s important to remember what inclusion is: it’s about people.

People feeling understood, safe to be themselves, having an equal voice, being able to belong and contribute in the way that others can. That’s not a political thing, it’s a people thing. And communications sits right at the heart of it.

Sincere and genuine messaging

About 15 years ago, I was working for a council when the English Defence League decided to bring its roadshow of hate to the borough.

It was an odd moment. Although I remember National Front rallies happening throughout my lifetime, this felt different. Less like a group of thugs having a one-off event for kicks, it was pitched more as a national recruitment drive. Emerging from the underground, shooting for the mainstream.

I remember a colleague’s reaction. She was born and raised in the town but her parents were born in India. It was the first time she had ever felt unsafe walking the streets of her town.

A source of solace during this time was from the support she got from the council and her team, in personal interactions and from what we said through our messaging. She knew it was genuine and sincere. 

That moment has stayed with me ever since, reminding me of the people involved when we talk about inclusion and, most importantly, what they need to hear to know they are supported and not alone.

Your social media approach to DEI

I’ve used this to form our social media approach, making sure that we always respond even to those who are never going to be swayed by what we say. That’s their prerogative.

It’s the onlookers that we’re speaking to. Those who need to see, in among the hurtful comments, that our inclusion posts are not lip service and our values are not just a poster on the wall.

It’s especially important for us – and a huge reason why this is about fighting fires for us – because this is about the people we employ and the people we save.

Everyone, no matter what their background, race, age, gender, sexuality, health status, or political views. In their biggest time of need, we will be there, sometimes in their homes or rescuing them from a vehicle, and that trust and understanding is hugely important.

Some organisations and practitioners may be feeling reticent now about supporting EDI initiatives – it may feel too much of a hot topic, they may have concerns about welfare of staff, of time used up responding to comments online, of being seen as taking a political stance.

But none of these will affect you if you have clear community standards for social media, you explain why you’re supporting initiatives (people, not politics), you are prepared for comments and have plan to deal with them, you speak to people onlooking and not the haters, and you know when to stop a discussion before it goes too far.  

Paul Compton is head of communications and engagement at Devon and Somerset fire and rescue service.

Further reading

How DEI policies came to top the crisis risk register
How corporate comms teams are managing DEI policy reversal in the USA
Can we bridge the generation gap in PR to unlock workplace potential?