PUBLISHED 24.11.2023
READING TIME 4

This was predicted. The signals were there but ignored.

Photo credit: AFP

Last night’s frenzy was avoidable, it was without doubt a failure of policing and a failure to rein in social media chiefs allowing their platforms to be used as a megafone for hate, lies, disinformation.

No matter who we are or what we look like, we all deserve to walk down the street without fear. Our hearts are broken for the families hurting and the communities traumatised by the horrific stabbing yesterday. Today and in the weeks and months ahead they need space and support to pick up the pieces, to heal and find a way forward.

It didn’t have to be this way. Just this week we saw news headlines on the growth of far right influence on social media in Ireland by the Institute of Strategic Dialogues.

Intelligence led policing is about reading signals, making assessments about threats and risks that inform operational decisions. Yet last night was a part of the pattern that has been well documented, reported and then ignored, and front line garda have also paid the price for  this failure. 

There is ample evidence of incitement to hatred by a small core of ideologically committed far right actors, who consistently stoke hate and fear. Across all metrics both online and offline, The Hope & Courage Collective (formerly the Far Right Observatory) have seen an increase in violent rhetoric towards minority communities like people seeking asylum, migrants, LGBTQIA+. We’ve gathered hundreds of hours of video, thousands of social media posts and thousands of pieces documenting incitement. 

We met with senior police and government officials earlier this year, to share our analysis on what is behind the ramping up of division in communities across Ireland. We have worn a path to social media chiefs with hard evidence of how they are allowing hate speech and content that clearly breaches their own community standard rules. 

We all want to have online spaces where we can express ourselves, debate, even disagree with each other. But social media platforms are not neutral. They rely on algorithms to increase sharing and engagement and in turn profits, and have been shown to prioritise emotionally manipulative and harmful content.  It is not freedom of expression but the business model that we need to be focusing on. 

We have warned that when politicians express tolerance and even flirt with tropes and ideas designed to cause division, it drives fear in communities on the margins, and emboldens those intent on causing hate and division in our communities and who want us to turn on each other. They may gain some headlines and some “likes” and “follows”, but the effect on our communities and on our democracy is toxic. 

The lack of actions on such high volumes of incitement over a long period of time sends a clear green light that it’s ok to wreck communities and stoke hate. The inevitable outcome is more violence at our libraries and bookshops, attacks on people seeking asylum, women, LGBT+ community and anyone else unlucky enough to be scapegoated. 

The framing of ‘a protest that got out of control’ is inaccurate and distracts from what is really happening. A trend of conflating behaviour designed to fuel division and spread hate with legitimate protest – a basic human right and core to a functioning democracy is driving a chill effect through all of us concerned with keeping society and our democracy safe. 

We know what keeps us safe: living in communities where people of every background have decent work, secure homes, good schools, healthcare, where we address problems with solutions like skilled youth and community workers, social supports; instead of knee jerk reactions that blame and demonise entire groups of people.

We send our love to the children, the care worker and their families, and also to the school and wider community during this very horrific time.  

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