Publications
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Report racist video “Flubba Bubba noonga”
In this briefing, we draw attention to the YouTube video Flubba Bubba noonga that is promoting racist stereotypes of Australia’s aboriginal community. The video is a rap song by two performers. Both the get-up of the singers and the lyrics of the song seek to humiliate Indigenous Australians and deny them their right to human…
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Criminal investigations launched against Facebook in Germany for racist speech
Germany, a country that has first-hand experience in how rampant xenophobic speech can vitiate society, is taking serious action against Facebook for non-removal of racist speech from the social media platform. German prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation against the Facebook managing director in Germany, Martin Ott. Germany has seen a surge in anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant speech on…
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When does disagreement become hate?
At the Online Hate Prevention Institute we are regularly contacted by people who have been advocating for an uncommon position in various online spaces. Examples of this include climate change sceptics who engage in debate on environmental pages, parents against vaccination who engage in debate in threads on public health, anti-Islam campaigners who engage on…
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Crossing the line on political speech
Australia does not have a bill of rights, or a broad concept of “freedom of speech”. What we do have is a narrow concept of freedom of political communication. This is a right enforced by the High Court of Australia who ruled that it is implied by the wording of the Australian Constitution. Our implied…
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Facebook fails to remove Homophobic page
In June this year, we asked our supporters to report the homophobic page “Gays should be fit and muscular” (ID 500634340092240). The page was deactivated for a time, but on October 28th it returned under the name “Gays should be fit and Muscular, not hairy and corpulent #fpsbg” (ID 500634340092240 – as before). The page…
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Victorian Government supports SAMIH
The Victorian Minister for Multicultural Affairs, the Hon Robin Scott MP, has written to the Online Hate Prevention Institute (OHPI) on behalf of the Victorian Government with best wishes and support for the Spotlight on Anti-Muslim Internet Hate (SAMIH) campaign. The letter also outlines the Victorian Government’s firm commitment to diversity and peaceful coexistence of…
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Some UPF supporters engage in extreme misogyny
Counter speech, where hate speech is challenged by members of the public, is an important part of countering both online and real world hate. Engaging in counter speech can, however, make one a target. We have previously discussed when it is safe to engage in counter speech, and when quietly reporting and moving on is…
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No Platform – why we ban hate
The Online Hate Prevention Institute is an Australian charity dedicated to preventing the harm that can result from online hate. In addition to research, reports, law reform work, and engagement in public discussion through the media and events, we also run a large Facebook page. We do our best to keep the hate off our…
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How to identify anti-Muslim hate
Our new campaign Spotlight on Anti-Muslim Internet Hate (SAMIH) is aimed at getting individuals and community organisations to report anti-Muslim hate on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to the platforms and to OHPI’s online hate reporting tool FightAgainstHate.com. We have called this campaign to throw light on to the rising levels of anti-Muslim hate speech on…
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The Rising Online Anti-Muslim Hate: A Background
On the International Human Rights Day two years ago, December 10, 2013, the Online Hate Prevention Institute published a report “Islamophobia on the Internet: the growth of online hate targeting Muslims”. Our report was the first of its kind tracking online hate items against Muslims that were circulating on Facebook . We trawled through 50 Facebook pages…