How Facebook and Sheryl Sandberg are working to stop online hate speech
Living your life online is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, social media has revolutionized communication and given us awesome and unique ways to express ourselves. On the other, it’s made us extremely vulnerable to things like hate speech, as some use the relative anonymity of being online as an excuse to unleash their disrespectful and sometimes dangerous views.
Facebook has decided to put an end to this unfortunate side effect once and for all. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg has teamed up with Peter Neumann of The Institute for Strategic Dialogue and the Amadeu Antonio Stiftung to launch the Online Civil Courage Initiative, a European-based program designed to fight hate speech with respect.
Sandberg wrote in a Facebook post published Monday:
In terms of specifics, the Online Civil Courage Initiative will do three things: provide money to those fighting online extremism, develop best practices for dealing with hate speech online, and perform research into online extremism to better determine how to tackle this ever-growing issue.
“Hate speech has no place online – or in society,” Sandberg continued in her post. “Together, we can make sure the voices of peace, truth and tolerance are heard. Love is louder than hate.”
We couldn’t agree more.
Read the rest of Sheryl Sandberg’s important post below:
(Image via Thomas Trutschel/Getty Images)
