Online Hate Prevention Institute

Aug 2014

Anti-Muslim hate

August 22, 2014 | in Landing Pages |

About Islamophobia (Anti-Muslim Hate)

Definition: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” – All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims, November 2018.

Since 2013, OHPI has worked to combat online Islamophobia which incites hatred and violence against Muslims in violation of their human rights, we have generally refered to this work as combating anti-Muslim hate. The word Islamophobia has been used for a couple of decades to describe this hatred, however, it has also been given a more expansive meaning. As the Macquarie Dictionary (Sixth Edition Oct 2013) defined it, Islamophobia is:”the irrational fear of Islam and its adherents”. Given that criticism and even attacks on ideas, including religion, do not violate human rights, and are therefore not a form of hate speech the term has caused those working in this area some concern. A proposed definition of Islamophobia by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims narrows the terms to one based on human rights. We support this UK definition for the term and oppose efforts to bring ideas of blasphemy or defamation of religion within the scope of of the term Islamophobia.

In Victoria, religious vilification is treated in similar terms to racism (see our landing pages on Racism). The Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 (Vic) Section 8 says that “(1) A person must not, on the ground of the religious belief or activity of another person or class of persons, engage in conduct that incites hatred against, serious contempt for, or revulsion or severe ridicule of, that other person or class of persons.” Section 25 goes further making serious racial vilification a criminal offence with a potential penalty of up to 6 months imprisonment. Serious religious vilification involves knowingly engaging in conduct with the intention of inciting serious contempt for, or revulsion or severe ridicule of a a person or group of people on the basis of their religious beliefs or activities.

Below is a list of our publications documenting, reporting and highlighting instances of online anti-Muslim hate.

Reports

OHPI produces detailed reports documenting and analysing online hate. The reports are produced over a number of months addressing a theme in a systematic and in-depth manner. These reports are published by OHPI and made freely available to the public.

December 10, 2015: Spotlight on Anti-Muslim Internet Hate Interim Report

This interim report provides some background and preliminary data from OHPI’s forthcoming “Spotlight on Anti-Muslim Internet Hate Report” due to be released in March 2016. This report is based on over 1,100 items of anti-Muslim hate in social media reported and categorised by the public through our FightAgainstHate.com reporting tool. The vast majority of the hate this report is based on was found on Facebook. The report indicates the volume of content by category, and how effective Facebook has been in responding to content in each category.

January 19, 2015: Je Suis Humain: Responsible free speech in the shadow of the Charlie Hebdo murders

This report explores the response of mainstream and social media to the terror attacks in France in January 2015, particularly with respect to free speech. It examines where to draw the line between free speech and attacking a person’s dignity in the light of the Charlie Hebdo attacks. Some key points from the report:

The discussion on where the line rests between free speech and right to human dignity has to take into account the fact that Australia celebrates multiculturalism and religious diversity. The French tradition of Laïcité, in contrast, takes a much more intolerant view of religion in the public sphere.
There is a difference between criticism of a religion and attacking the people who practice it. Critiquing religion, which is a set of ideas, is not hate speech. Stereotypying and dehumanising a group of people, identified by their religion, is hate speech. The report illustrates the difference using images taken from a Facebook page, which was not specifically dedicated to hate.
The report looks at how media around the world have responded to the events, and recommended against them republishing the cartoons lampooning the Prophet by Charlie Hebdo.
It recommends social media users show solidarity with the victims using the universal hashtag “JeSuisHumain” rather than the more divisive “JeSuisCharlie” or “JeSuisAhmed”.
The report makes a case for Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act being expanded to bring religious vilification within its purview.
It calls for greater vigilance against rising antisemitism, which in turn is fueling radicalisation of parts of the Muslim community in Europe.

December 10, 2013: Islamophobia on the Internet: The growth of online hate targeting Muslims

This work examines 50 anti-Muslim Facebook pages from which it documents 349 images of anti-Muslim hate. These images represent 191 unique images and many repetitions as messages of hate move between the different pages. The message of hate in this report are divided into seven themes which the report discusses: