London – Three weeks ago, US President Joe Biden prepared a manifesto against racism and for tolerance. journalist Karine Jean-Pierre as a spokesperson, an action that had great repercussions in the global press and social networks.
Black, immigrant (born in Martinique), raised in Queens, New York, and gay, transferring government positions, he has become one of the most visible faces of the greatest power on the planet. briefings Attended by the White House in the country and around the world
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However, Biden’s message is not assimilated enough. The Buffalo bombing, which cost 12 lives on 5/14 and was streamed live on Twitch, is another in a series of actions fueled by racial hatred, a wound the United States cannot heal.
Racism spreading on social media
For many academics and activists, these tensions have been exacerbated by the help of social media, a fertile ground for such conspiracy theories. great replacementPayton Gendron, the perpetrator of Saturday’s murder spree, was just 18 years old.
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The idea is that immigration will destroy the values of white societies and destroy Western civilization. fed By anti-immigration narratives supported by conservative politicians like Donald Trump and the far-right.
The most racist owes this plan to the Jews. In the US, the advocacy of Latin American immigrants by Democratic politicians is seen by conspiracy theorists as a “relocation” movement.
Two days after the racially motivated attack, the State of New York opened an investigation into the networks’ role in the case.
The main targets are video streaming Twitch, messaging platform Discord, and anonymous message board 4chan, which is used to spread conspiracy theories due to their low moderation.
The prosecution was asked by New York Governor Kathy Hochul that social media platforms should be held accountable for putting engagement above public safety.
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NY prosecutor launches investigation into social media role in Buffalo attack
Letitia James, New York State Attorney General (Photo: Twitter)
It’s not just the US that networks are associated with crimes motivated by conspiracy theories and minority hatred. 23-year-old British Jake Davison, a supporter of the women’s hate movement Incel, Killed five people in England in August last year.
Two months later, 25-year-old Somali Ali Harbi Ali, British MP David Amess murdered stab wounds claim revenge on politicians in favor of airstrikes in Syria.
The criminal, now sentenced to life imprisonment, was cited as an example of what British intelligence said. bedroom radicalsIt has attracted young people who are locked up in their rooms during the pandemic.
“Same digital booklet” with live broadcast on social networks
The Digital Anti-Hate Center has been one of the fiercest critics of digital media companies’ efforts to control hate speech.
The chief executive of the NGO, Imran Ahmed, wrote in an article published in the British newspaper The Guardian that the Buffalo tragedy might not have happened had the issue been addressed after the Christchurch trial in New Zealand in 2018.
Ahmed noted that the author “used the same digital playbook as the Christchurch terrorist: he used live footage of the attack and a ‘manifesto’ referring to grand substitution and other white supremacist theories. And he noted that the American referred to the Christchurch terrorist in his manifesto.
According to Ahmed, these are lone wolves, but consists of individuals connected through online communities sharing ideas, tactics and content. Following the example of the UK and the European Union, it calls for governments to take action to regulate platforms.
Racism in the Interactive Media of Extremists
While social networks have a no small share of responsibility in the spread of racism, they are not alone in this.
The harm done to society by the so-called “opinion media”, the prime example of which is American Fox News, is highlighted by Reporters Without Borders in its annual press freedom index.
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Brazil was ranked 110th in the 2022 Press Freedom Index, marking the “new era of polarization”.
That same week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, polarized media criticized World Press Freedom Day speech.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has released a message on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day.
Fox is one of those who allow for the confirmation of theories like the replacement that are part of controversial anchor Tucker Carlson’s narrative. But that’s expected of him anyway.
The problem is that such narratives also pop up in less targeted vehicles. The week the British MP was stabbed, there was an opinion piece in the conservative Daily Telegraph, which is not an irresponsible tabloid, a headline prepared to fuel prejudice: “The European Union is a failed empire that has condemned itself to indifference”.
While politicians and celebrities don’t always like to be criticized, having opinions and criticizing is the essence of the press’s job. However, there is a big difference between criticizing actions and positions and endorsing racist and discriminatory arguments against minorities, immigrants and LGBTQ+ people.
Media outlets like Fox News and others who have become supporters of Donald Trump in the US are fueling racial hatred and their views are echoing on social media, reinforcing theories like those that inspired the Buffalo shooter.
Freedom of expression on social media
Regarding the so-called ‘opinion media’, there are still no concrete measures to control its effects, only complaints.
Regulating social networks to limit hate speech already seems like the way forward and irreversible.
The UK and the European Union have submitted bills to their respective parliaments that aim to force platforms to act more rigorously, even in the face of risks of impact on freedom of expression.
The real question is whether freedom of expression can be applied to those who demand the death of religious or ethnic groups. Or, as in Buffalo, it allows online threats to spread from social media to the real world.
The US state of Texas, led by Republican Greg Abbott, won a court victory with this thesis this week.
A top court reinstated the law passed in September last year, once again forbidding digital platforms from removing posts that count as “points of view”.
A big win for freedom of speech in Texas.
I signed a law prohibiting social media outlets from canceling or censoring conservative speech.
A federal appeals court has allowed Texas freedom of speech law to go into effect for now.https://t.co/MXCbKfBxAR
For conservatives and far-right representatives in many countries, not just the US, it’s not up to one company to decide what a social media user can post alone.
The risk is that this opens up the possibility that hatred towards immigrants, blacks, Jews or other ethnic and religious groups could be viewed as a point of view.
From there, using networks to support the grand substitution theory and motivating actions like Buffalo’s is a leap forward.
