Did you know that Facebook and Twitter have policies against Hate Speech?

It would be accurate to say that the biggest amounts of hate speech and misinformation are circulated on social media platforms, most notably Facebook and Twitter. This is not in the least surprising since most of these perpetrators feel powerful hiding behind the keyboard and therefore social media platforms provide the most expected outlets. But did you know that Facebook and Twitter have well-established policies that prohibit hate speech and the spread of misinformation?

The aim of these policies is to protect their users against being victims of hate speech and misinformation that is rampant on social media. They also aim at creating a safe environment through which users can freely interact regardless of their diverse backgrounds and affiliations. For countries like South Sudan, where in the past online hate speech has led to the escalation of the war, awareness of these policies amongst online users alone would encourage cautiousness in social media use, resulting in a trusting environment amongst South Sudanese with different backgrounds.

With such measures in place, the occurrence of Hate speech and misinformation can easily be reported to Facebook and Twitter, after which such posts can be taken down.  These policies act as guidelines through which acceptable conduct can be attained on the social media platforms, consequently leading to the eradication of hate speech and misinformation as well as lasting peace. They also aim at creating a safe environment through which users can freely interact regardless of their diverse backgrounds and affiliations. The images show parts of the Facebook and Twitter policies which any user can access on their respective websites.

#DefyHateNow Thought of The Week: Through the development of these policies, both Facebook and Twitter have taken major steps in the efforts towards combating hate speech and misinformation online. Our part, therefore, as users of these platforms is to ensure that we utilize the tools handed to us in the fight against hate speech and misinformation through the avoidance of hate speech and misinformation for instance or reporting occurrences of the same.

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