{{Short description|Speech countering socially harmful speech}}
'''Counterspeech''' is a tactic of countering hate speech or misinformation by presenting an alternative narrative rather than with censorship of the offending speech. It also means responding to hate speech with empathy and challenging the hate narratives, rather than responding with more hate speech directed in the opposite direction. According to advocates, counterspeech is more likely to result in deradicalization and peaceful resolution of conflict.<ref name="Kohn 2018 p. 244">{{cite book | last=Kohn | first=Sally | title=The Opposite of Hate: A Field Guide to Repairing Our Humanity | publisher=Algonquin Books | year=2018 | isbn=978-1-61620-728-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q0NRDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA244 | access-date=30 July 2021 | page=244}}</ref>
Susan Benesch of the Dangerous Speech Project has articulated a taxonomy of counterspeech which includes eight specific strategies.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.scribd.com/document/327586365/Counterspeech-on-Twitter-A-Field-Study#from_embed | title=Counterspeech on Twitter: A Field Study | PDF | Hashtag | Hatred }}</ref> They include:
# Presentation of facts to correct misstatements or misperceptions # Pointing out hypocrisy or contradictions # Warning of possible offline and online consequences of speech # Identification with original speaker or target group # Denouncing speech as hateful or dangerous # Use of visual media # Use of humor # Use of a particular tone, e.g. an empathetic one.
The use of counterspeech is of particular significance on social media. A report published by Facebook in July 2021 under its "Courage Against Hate" initiative provides information on its own "Counterspeech Hub" website,<ref>{{cite web| url=https://counterspeech.fb.com/en/| website=Counterspeech| publisher=Facebook| title=Supporting the voices that are engaged in Counterspeech| access-date=30 July 2021}}</ref> and includes case studies on several organisations or movements that employ counterspeech as a strategy for countering hate speech. Two of the most prominent of these are I Am Here International and the Online Civil Courage Initiative (OCCI), a partnership between the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and Facebook.<ref name=fbcasestudy>{{cite report| url=https://counterspeech.fb.com/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/Facebook-Courage-Against-Hate.pdf| title= Courage Against Hate |date= July 2021|publisher= Facebook |access-date=30 July 2021}}</ref>
A Swiss study reported in December 2021 on a field experiment using three different strategies of counterspeech, using single responses to xenophobic posts on Twitter: humour, warning of consequences, and empathy. It found that only empathy had a small but measurable effect on the hate speech, with the authors suggesting that future research should focus on repeated interventions.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Hangartner | first1=Dominik | last2=Gennaro | first2=Gloria | last3=Alasiri | first3=Sary | last4=Bahrich | first4=Nicholas | last5=Bornhoft | first5=Alexandra | last6=Boucher | first6=Joseph | last7=Demirci | first7=Buket Buse | last8=Derksen | first8=Laurenz | last9=Hall | first9=Aldo | last10=Jochum | first10=Matthias | last11=Munoz | first11=Maria Murias | last12=Richter | first12=Marc | last13=Vogel | first13=Franziska | last14=Wittwer | first14=Salomé | last15=Wüthrich | first15=Felix | last16=Gilardi | first16=Fabrizio | last17=Donnay | first17=Karsten|display-authors=2 | title=Empathy-based counterspeech can reduce racist hate speech in a social media field experiment | journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume=118 | issue=50 | date=14 December 2021 | issn=0027-8424 | pmid=34873046 | doi=10.1073/pnas.2116310118 | page=| pmc=8685915 }}</ref>
== See also ==
* Deradicalization * Life After Hate
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== *{{cite web |title='Best Practices' and Counterspeech Are Key to Combating Online Harassment |url=https://www.adl.org/blog/best-practices-and-counterspeech-are-key-to-combating-online-harassment |website=Anti-Defamation League |language=en|date=March 7, 2016}} *{{cite journal |last1=Calleros |first1=Charles R. |title=Paternalism, Counterspeech, and Campus Hate-Speech Codes: A Reply to Delgado and Yun |journal=Arizona State Law Journal |date=1995 |volume=27 |pages=1249 |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/arzjl27&div=45&id=&page=}} *{{cite journal |last1=Ernst |first1=Julian |last2=Schmitt |first2=Josephine B. |display-authors=2|last3=Rieger |first3=Diana |last4=Beier |first4=Ann Kristin |last5=Vorderer |first5=Peter |last6=Bente |first6=Gary |last7=Roth |first7=Hans-Joachim |title=Hate Beneath the Counter Speech? A Qualitative Content Analysis of User Comments on YouTube Related to Counter Speech Videos |journal=Journal for Deradicalization |date=28 March 2017 |issue=10 |pages=1–49 |url=https://journals.sfu.ca/jd/index.php/jd/article/view/91 |language=en |issn=2363-9849}} *{{cite book |last1=Langton |first1=Rae |title=New Work on Speech Acts |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-105901-8 |language=en |chapter=Blocking as counter-speech}} *{{cite journal |last1=Lepoutre |first1=Maxime |title=Hate Speech in Public Discourse: A Pessimistic Defense of Counterspeech |journal=Social Theory and Practice |date=2017 |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=851–883 |doi=10.5840/soctheorpract201711125 |jstor=26405309 |issn=0037-802X|url=http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/96654/1/HATE_SPEECH_IN_PUBLIC_DISCOURSE_A_PESSIM.pdf }} *{{cite journal |last1=Richards |first1=Robert D. |last2=Calvert |first2=Clay |title=Counterspeech 2000: A New Look at the Old Remedy for Bad Speech |journal=Brigham Young University Law Review |date=2000 |volume=2000 |pages=553}} *{{cite web |author1=Ruths, Derek |author2=Saleem, Haji Mohammad |display-authors=2 |author3=Kelly P. Dillon |author4=Lucas Wright |author5=Susan Benesch |author5-link=Susan Benesch |title=Considerations for Successful Counterspeech |date=Oct 14, 2016 |url=https://www.issuelab.org/resource/considerations-for-successful-counterspeech.html |publisher=Dangerous Speech Project}} *{{cite journal |last1=Tirrell |first1=Lynne |title=Toxic Misogyny and the Limits of Counterspeech |journal=Fordham Law Review |date=1 May 2019 |volume=87 |issue=6 |pages=2433 |url=https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol87/iss6/6/}}
Category:Hate speech Category:Freedom of speech