Author: HAYLEY NELSON (Page 1 of 3)

The Center for Countering Digital Hate and David Icke: please consider signing open letter

June 8, 2020 / / 0 Comments

As you may know, David Icke has promoted several conspiracy theories on social media during the Covid-19 pandemic. A report produced by the campaign group, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) states that Icke is making “untrue and conspiracist claims about Covid-19” which have been watched more than 30 million times online.  As examples, the report cites:

  • an Instagram post in which he falsely links 5G to coronavirus and claims that 5G mobile networks leave people unable to absorb oxygen
  • a YouTube video in which he falsely claims that it is not possible to catch a virus from shaking hands
  • a YouTube video in which he falsely claims that a Jewish group is behind coronavirus
  • a Twitter post in which he falsely claims that Germany is moving to “legalise rape” for Muslim men

On Friday May 1st,  CCDH published an open letter calling on tech companies to ban David Icke’s accounts. The letter states that Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have amplified “Icke’s racism and misinformation about Covid-19 to millions of people.”

As a direct result of the open letter, which many have signed, including MP Damian Collins and celebrity medics Dr Christian Jensen, Dr Dawn Harper and Dr Pixie McKenna, Facebook removed David Icke on Friday May and on Saturday evening YouTube bowed to pressure and removed David Icke’s channel from their platform.

The CCDH now wants to pressure Instagram and Twitter to follow suit. Please consider signing – and circulating – the open letter at the following link in order to help increase the pressure CCDH is putting on these social media giants:

https://www.counterhate.co.uk/

Covid-19 is a dangerous fuse

June 8, 2020 / / 0 Comments

“The coronavirus is an excuse for, rather than a cause of, hateful behaviour – It is a fuse that activates pre-existing prejudices and stereotypes. Many people have decided that they can now manifest them with impunity. Before our eyes, the social norms are changing – what is allowed, what is acceptable”  notes Prof. Rafał Pankowski, a Polish sociologist and political scientist.

There have been reports of a rise in hate crime in Poland against people of Asian origin, following Covid-19, as there have been in the UK. However, in addition, other minority groups including refugees, Muslims and LGBTQ+ communities have also been targeted. Cases of discrimination were collected by “Never Again”, an NGO which combats hate speech in their new report “Virus of Hate: the Brown Book of the Time of Epidemic” which can be read in full here: the_virus_of_hate

As Gazeta Wyborcza reported in April, “Wiadomości” TVP aired a news piece blaming refugees for spreading coronavirus. “In the Greek refugee camp, Coronavirus was detected. As many as 20 immigrants from the Middle East are infected. The residents are full of fear, because there is no shortage of escapes.” – said the creator of the material Maciej Sawicki. The Berlin correspondent of TVP Cezary Gmyz, in turn, re-posted on Twitter a comment by the far-right AfD party accusing Muslims in Berlin of deliberately spreading coronavirus (because they were supposed to gather in front of the mosque).

In Wrocław, Salesian priest Leonard Wilczyński stated in his sermon that the coronavirus epidemic is “God’s punishment for living in sin: for homosexuality”. Warsaw priest Sławomir Abramowski wrote on Facebook that “the biological bomb that spread the plague in Madrid was a demonstration by many thousands of genderists”.

As Professor Pankowski explains the pandemic has resulted in a  “global crisis of social trust and values, disorientation, anxiety. In these conditions not only xenophobia but also conspiracy theories are developing dangerously.”

In the UK a survey by psychologists at the University of Oxford showed that nearly half of people in England believe in conspiracy theories related to Covid-19. The results showed that one fifth of English people blamed Jews or Muslims for Covid-19.  The research suggested that people who believe in Covid-19 conspiracy theories are less likely to comply with government guidelines on social distancing rules, thereby “contributing to the spread of the disease.”  The full report can be read here.

The rise in Covid-19 conspiracy theories, both on and off the internet, is dangerous.  We all need to be aware that hate crime will increase as a result of this, and there will be a need to challenge it. At the end of the pandemic, confidence in social trust and values must be re-evaluated, and worked on.

“Equalities watchdog drops plan for Tory Islamophobia inquiry”

June 8, 2020 / / 0 Comments

The Guardian has reported that  “The equalities watchdog has dropped plans to launch an inquiry into Tory Islamophobia after the party set out new details of its own investigation, which the largest Muslim body in Britain has branded “a facade”.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) have said it does not think it is proportionate to carry out its own inquiry after the Conservatives committed to an independent investigation looking into complaints of discrimination over “religion or belief and significantly Islam”.

However, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), which submitted a dossier of 300 cases to the watchdog cataloguing alleged Islamophobia, said the terms of reference set out by the Tories was inadequate.”

You can read the full article here.

 

FE’s fight to tackle hate crime

June 8, 2020 / / 0 Comments

FE Week have written an article about the importance of tackling hate crime in colleges. They report that hate crime has almost tripled in the past four years with 460 offences recorded in colleges. The most common form of hate crime reported was racism.

“Last month, Home Office minister for countering extremism Susan Williams told the home affairs select committee that hate crime directed towards South and East Asian communities had increased by 21 per cent during the Covid-19 pandemic. Police have also estimated a threefold increase in such incidents against Chinese people between January and March 2020, compared to the previous two years.”

The article discusses the importance of tackling the root causes of hate crime, educating the perpetrators, providing resources, having a zero bullying policy and being aware of what is going on in the world.

“Mike Ainsworth, director of London services at Stop Hate UK, a national organisation that supports education providers through its helpline and training services, said their work has shown that racism, homophobia, religious intolerance and disability hate “remain problems in places of further education”.

He added that the number of cases reported are a “significant underestimate”, with many students (particularly foreign nationals, those with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ community) reluctant to come forward.”

You can read the blog here.

Reporting Covid-19 Hate Crime

May 5, 2020 / / 0 Comments

It is now 7 weeks since lockdown started in the UK due to Covid-19, and hate crime has become more prevalent.  Sky News have reported that more than 260 offences against Chinese people have been recorded in the first 3 months of 2020. This is more than 3 times the number of cases reported in the previous 2 years (375 hate crimes throughout the whole of 2019, and 360 offences in 2018). These cases have been due to Covid-19 hate crime including assaults, robberies, harassment and criminal damage against Chinese people.

The Metropolitan Police have produced videos to give information that is relevant to all communities about their rights to be protected from hate crime linked to Covid-19. You can view these here in Mandarin, Cantonese, Thai, Japanese, Somali, Indonesian and Vietnamese. The English version is below:

To report a hate crime related to Covid-19 you can do so safely online here.

 

Free online course for Countering Hate Speech

April 9, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Countering Hate Speech – Free 5 week course

The Interactive Open Online Course for motivated youth willing to address challenging issues with action. 

‘Countering Hate Speech’ is the Interactive Open Online Course where participants learn about and discuss current challenges posed by hate speech in their communities and societies at large. Not only do participants engage in dialogue about the topic and get access to expert video lectures, they also collaboratively work towards creating a campaign to counter hate speech in various forms. This makes ‘Countering Hate Speech’  an action-oriented course where participants are inspired, share knowledge and learn from each other.

This course is open and free of charge to anyone between 18- 30 years old and is a resident in or with the nationality of, one of the Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange Project countries.

To join go to: https://sharingperspectivesfoundation.com/programme/countering-hate-speech-3/

Lega nel Mondo in Liverpool

February 26, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Matteo Salvini was the Deputy Prime Minister in Italy until the end of last year. He has been held responsible for a lot of the far right anti-immigration hate in Italy and has also been reported as saying he wanted a “mass-cleansing” of the country. Shortly after becoming Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister,  Salvini announced his intention to conduct a compulsory census of Italians in order to identify and deport Roma people from the country.

On 12th February the Italian senate formally authorised a criminal case against Salvini,  This is due to Salvini allegedly depriving 131  asylum-seekers, who were on board the Gregoretti coastguard ship, of their liberty, by not allowing them to disembark.  He will now be tried for kidnapping.

Unfortunately Salvini’s right-wing views have had support both in Italy and in other areas of the world. In 2018 Salvini ‘s party, The League, formed a global network of supporters. Some of The League’s supporters are in the UK and have organised a dinner at a restaurant in Liverpool for 28th March 2020, which has caused outrage amongst residents of Liverpool. The advert implies that Salvini will be present. However, since it was first published, Salvini has denied this,  saying that he will not be present, and that: “What is happening there is not a rally, but a dinner among supporters of the League in Liverpool – they are going to eat fish and chips.”

The Mayor of Liverpool, Steve Rotheram, said “division and hate” was not welcome in Liverpool and “the only audience he’ll find here is one that won’t be shy in telling him what they think of fascists like him.”

Liverpool has a strong history of opposing far-right visits to the city and standing up for what is right. They have had a 30-year boycott refusing to sell The Sun newspaper after the Hillsborough disaster.  We expect this event will not be ignored and that, if it does go ahead, there will most likely be protests and rallies.

 

 

Multilingualism is here to stay!

February 25, 2020 / / 0 Comments

We wrote our own blog post about an increase in hate crime incidents in Sheffield since Brexit, and the importance of supporting our international friends and students. Now, the Big Issue have also reported that EU members have been subjected to hate crime in Brighton & Hove and London amongst other places.

The crimes appear to be happening after members of the public hear people speaking in other languages apart from English. There is a lack of acceptance of different cultures by some individuals, and this is making people feel unsafe. The UK is a vast multicultural country where hundreds of different languages and dialects are spoken. We need to be proud of our multicultural community and celebrate the diversity that enhances our every day lives rather than persecute those who are different. Just because Brexit has happened does not mean other languages should disappear in the UK. The ability to speak more than one language is increasingly important nowadays and the people who live here who can do that should be appreciated more.

Perhaps the British public should learn from, as the Big Issue recall, the story of protesters in Warsaw. “After a man on a number 22 tram in Warsaw punched a university professor for speaking German to a visiting German colleague, protesters rode number 22 trams in Kraków speaking foreign languages and reading aloud from books in German and Russian.”

Demonisation of Gypsies?

February 25, 2020 / / 0 Comments

In November last year, Priti Patel proposed new legislation which will target the gypsy community.

Today am I announcing the Government’s plans to consult on criminalising the act of trespassing when setting up an unauthorised encampment in England and Wales. I recognise the distress and misery that some unauthorised encampments cause to many communities and businesses across the country. Currently, this kind of trespass is a civil matter and the powers available to the police are limited.

The legislation suggests that the police should be able to immediately confiscate the vehicles of “anyone whom they suspect to be trespassing on land with the purpose of residing on it”.

The Guardian reported:

Patel’s proposed laws belong to the most dangerous of all political categories: performative oppression. She is beating up a marginalised group in full public view, to show that she sides with the majority. I don’t know whether she really intends to introduce these laws, or whether this is empty electioneering. In either case, she is playing with fire. Already this month, three caravans in Somerset have allegedly been torched by suspected arsonists. Travelling peoples have been attacked like this for centuries, and sometimes murdered. In 2003, a 15-year-old Traveller child, Johnny Delaney, was kicked to death by a gang of teenagers in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.

The consultation acknowledges that there is nowhere else for these communities to go, other than the council house waiting list, which means abandoning the key elements of their culture. During the Conservative purge in the late 1980s and early 1990s, two thirds of traditional, informal stopping sites for travellers, some of which had been in use for thousands of years, were sealed off. Then, in 1994, the Criminal Justice Act repealed the duty of local authorities to provide official sites for Roma and Travellers.

If this legislation goes ahead it will most likely result in an increase in hate crime towards gypsies. Those committing hate crimes will feel they can justify their crimes as they will believe the government is supporting them through the legislation. A lot of people will lose their homes and culture as well as state protection meaning they won’t be able to report hate crimes. This could result in a very dangerous case of persecution. The consultation is currently open and you can contribute here. It closes on 4th March 2020.

 

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