Countering Hate Speech

What is xenophobia?

• ​​​​​​​The fear of a person or group that is different from you.

• Messages that challenge extremism or stereotypes.

• When someone holds extreme political or religious views.

• Using digital devices, sites, and apps to intimidate, harm, and upset someone.

How do websites and apps like YouTube sometimes contribute to hate speech?

• ​​​​​​​They tell people to post hateful content.

• They try to keep people on their sites using algorithms that recommend increasingly extreme content.

• They never contribute to hate speech in any way.

Dante watches videos from a guy on YouTube who takes pictures of people on the street and posts the photos with racist insults as captions. The YouTuber challenged his followers to take and post a photo of someone with an insulting caption. He said he would include the best ones in his next video. Should Dante respond to the challenge?

• Yes. He can become YouTube-famous if he wins the challenge. 

• No. Too many people would submit photos, and he might not be selected.

• Yes. It's just a joke, so it isn't hate speech. 

• No. He would be spreading hate speech.

You and most of your classmates follow a social media account that posts memes about things that happen at your school. Over the last few days, you have seen a number of memes making fun of the accents some teachers have. What action could you take to prevent the spread of hate speech on the Instagram account?

• ​​​​​​​Ignore the posts. The hateful memes won't be a big deal unless people like them.

• Share the memes on your timeline. The memes are just meant to be jokes so they can't hurt anyone. 

• Create a counter-meme. Show others that you value and respect teachers at your school. 

• Share the hateful memes privately so others don't judge you if you find them funny.

How confident are you in knowing how to combat online hate speech?

• Very confident.

• Somewhat confident.

• Not very confident.