Should racist and sexist comments be banned from social media?
The killing of a young Indigenous man in Saskatchewan unleashed such a torrent of hate online, that Premier Brad Wall had to step in. Should racist and sexist comments be banned from social media?
More from this episode:
Wall appealed for calm and restraint after the recent killing of a young Cree man unleashed a torrent of hate online. 22-year-old Colten Boushie was shot to death, after he and four friends drove onto a farm near the town of Biggar, Sask.. Farmer Gerald Stanley is now charged with second-degree murder. What prompted the Premier to wade in was a wave of racist social media posts after the shooting.
Many can't be published, but here are a few to give you an idea: "He should have shot all five of them, given a medal." And: "Shoot them, they breed like rabbits anyways."
Posts like that shine a spotlight on race relations in Saskatchewan. But Internet haters and trolls are global. They have forced some media outlets to ban comments sections, and many users to flee the Internet.
Our topic today: "Should racist and sexist comments be banned from social media? How do you deal with online hate?"
Guests
Devin Heroux, CBC TV reporter in Saskachewan
Twitter: @Devin_Heroux
Trevor Greyeyes, editor First Nations Voice in Winnipeg
Twitter: @TrevorGreyeyes
Cara Zwibel, Director of the Fundamental Freedoms Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association
Twitter: @cancivlib
Nick Diakopoulos, Professor of Computational Journalism at the University of Maryland.
Links & Articles
On Colten Boushie
CBC.ca
- Gerald Stanley pleads not guilty to 2nd-degree murder in Colten Boushie shooting
- Family devastated after Colten Boushie shot and killed on farm near Biggar, Sask.
- Sask. politicians call for end to racism following Colten Boushie's death
- Responses flood in after Sask. premier asks for racist comments to stop after shooting
- Indigenous youth in Sask. speak out about racism, hope for change
- National Farmers Union condemns racist online comments following Colten Boushie's death
- Racial tensions flare in Sask. following killing of 22-year-old First Nations man
- OPINION: Colten Boushie was killed and everything changed
- Colten Boushie was killed and everything changed
- 'I am used to racism': people outside Sask. court appearance continue call for change
Globe and Mail
- Brad Wall says 'racist and hate-filled' comments after fatal shooting of First Nations man must stop
National Post
Saskatoon Star Phoenix
APTN
On Internet commenting
CBC.ca
- Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, Google pledge to review hate speech complaints within 1 day
- Deleting your Instagram account won't solve the internet's hate problem
- Eric Schmidt wants tech companies to build 'spell-checkers' for hate
- Twitter trolling victims at mercy of 'daunting' complaints system
- What to do when you're harassed online: Tips from people who have experienced it
- Employers now responsible for protecting their workers on social media
- Sheila vs. the Internet
- Montreal woman calls out Twitter for lack of action on banning 'creepshot' accounts
Globe and Mail
New York Times
The Guardian
- Paul Feig hits back at Twitter haters trolling Ghostbusters' Leslie Jones
- Behind the online comments: the psychology of internet trolls
- Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Microsoft sign EU hate speech code
Other sources
- NPR website to get rid of comments
- NPR is killing off comments, that's great news
- NPR joins the tide of publishers getting rid of comments
- The pathway out of violence: my story within and without far-right extremism, by Daniel Gallant
- An education in the extreme: Daniel Gallant turns to learning as he moves from white supremacist to anti-racism crusader
- Not-guilty ruling sets up framework for Twitter cases: Gregory Elliott harassed two women through tweets, but not to the level of criminality, the judge says in a ruling that took four hours to read
- How Trolls Are Ruining the Internet