Facebook And Counter-Narrative Against Extremism

Is life expensive? Bad hair day? Autumn blues? No electricity? Accompanied by the subtitle "No Reason to Be Racist" (Kein Grund Rassist Zu Werden), these statements were part of the meme-based campaign in Germany that challenged the notion that we can blame our problems on minority groups. The concept that became a social media trend was created by the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, and aimed at curbing the spread of extremist messaging through counter-narrative and boosting tolerance.

“The basic idea is to exploit the same online tools extremists use but in a way that undermines their hateful messages,” explains Bloomberg.

The article discusses how the "No Reason to Be Racist" campaign and other counter-narrative measures might help tackle radicalization online. In particular, it takes a look at Facebook’s activities and its Online Civil Courage Initiative, which donates small grants and advertising credits to anti-extremist organizations that produce counter-narrative and anti-hate speech campaigns.

According to Bloomberg, the counter-measures might offer effective support in the implementation of the code of conduct signed by Facebook in May last year, with a pledge to remove online hate speech within 24 hours of being notified. Considering the difficulty of monitoring the vast amount of content available and still insufficient number of moderators, it’s no wonder that Facebook tries its luck with campaigns that seek a change in behavior rather than relying solely on after-measures.

As Bloomberg points out, campaigns aimed at the general population have worked already before, for example, in public health, decreasing smoking rates and unsafe sex. It remains to be seen, however, if the same will hold true for reducing extremism.