BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe — What started as a social media campaign of flag selfies and hashtags has evolved into a full-fledged citizen movement with “Captain Zimbabwe” as its leader.
Category: Combating Hate Online
The following selection of stories originally appeared on RNS as part of a reporting series on religious tolerance and combating hate speech online. These and other stories in the series were supported by three grants RNF/RNS received from Google.
In Britain, a glut of anti-terrorism campaigns draws fans, detractors
CANTERBURY, England — The Quilliam Foundation’s #NotAnotherBrother video on YouTube joins an increasingly crowded market of online counter-extremism campaigns in Britain. Is it #JustAnotherVideo?
Interfaith leaders find common ground promoting Internet freedom
Interfaith leaders are spearheading a new fight for net neutrality — once the realm of tech wonks and digital rights activists — and framing a free and open Internet as essential for religious freedom, social justice and interfaith cooperation.
Despite death threats, cartoonists challenge religious hatred and censorship online
CAPE TOWN — Vishavjit Singh is one of many cartoonists using art to fight religious intolerance, hatred, stereotypes and censorship attempts online.
Using ‘flower speech’ and new Facebook tools, Myanmar fights online hate speech
YANGON, Myanmar — “It’s not enough to complain about content. That just removes the bad stuff after you already saw it,” said Matt Schissler, an adviser to the civil society group Paung Ku.
Text messaging project helps ease religious and tribal tensions in Kenya’s Tana Delta
NAIROBI, Kenya — A conflict unfolding in the Tana Delta has led a Canadian-based genocide prevention organization to launch an innovative project to monitor false rumors and give community members neutral and accurate information.
Malaysian Muslims feel heat for petting dogs, and social media bites back
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Nearly 1,000 people attended the Oct. 19 event at a park in the western state of Selangor, aimed at helping Muslims overcome religious stigma and fear of canines and learn permissible ways to touch a dog.
Topeka goes from ‘God Hates Fags’ to ‘God Loves Gays’
The project shows the power of harnessing online media — in this case, the crowdfunding site Indiegogo — to push back against hate speech from a reviled source.
Taboom Media 