‘Anti-cyber cells will help monitor hate speeches online’

Published in Sakal Times (India) on December 13, 2014. 

Anti-cyber crime cells should be able to monitor online date real time for tracking down cases of hate speech in social media, said Andre Oboler, social media and online public diplomacy expert.

Oboler, the CEO of Australia-based Online Hate Prevention Institute, was delivering the valedictory address at the 11th edition of IEEE Indicon 2014 organised by IEEE Pune section. Sakal Times is the media partner for the event.

Oboler said that although, India ranks quite low in the list of countries with most social media crimes, cyber crime officials with help of technology can identify objectionable material before it goes viral on the cyberspace.

“Softwares such as ‘hate 2.0’ developed by our institute can help identify objectionable online material. We have monitored some cases of online hate speech from India but did not find it as threatening as posts from some other countries,” Oboler said.

Oboler said 40 per cent of all complaints on racism registered in Australia are that of online cases. He said cyber laws are being drafted by technical experts adding that legal councils must be involved to deal with cases of hate speeches.

“Most social media companies are based in US and go by American set of laws while deciding cases of online hate speech. At present, social media companies rely on users reporting abusive material. However, crowd sourcing and Artificial Intelligence solutions can help authorities monitor cyber crimes,” Oboler said.

Rajat Moona, Director, C-DAC, said technical and scientific research institutes should educate lawmakers about various aspects of cyberspace. Moona urged on responsible use of technology.