Deleting Hate Does Not Stop Hate

The EU is, rightly, very excited about their efforts to push the internet companies to better address hate speech has resulted in an estimated 70% removal rate. But the grim reality is that removing hate speech does not stop hate.

If only it was that simple.

Hate speech on-line is a manifestation of real world sentiments.  Removing it does not, by itself, change the reality creating it. During the period of EU's increased online enforcement,  far right groups and candidates still flourished in the European political arena and anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic displays blossomed across EU. The American experience over the past year, with neo-Nazi groups re-branded as alt-right, marching in average communities, also shows that muffling hate speech alone does not address the root problem of racist propaganda and divisive politics.

By focussing on the outward manifestations and not the underlying issues, the public and the governments are handing the companies a job they can never complete.

Perhaps the most productive aspect of the EU efforts is to demonstrate to the tech companies that more investment was always needed. Now it is more obvious than ever that investing in better ideas and more advanced automated methods is far more cost effective and manageable than any army of reviewers.  The companies have always maintained that the answer  was in social solutions. Finally perhaps we are arriving at a place where  the two tactics are, for the first time, meeting. 

Governments and society are finally beginning to understand how vast and complex the problem is. Companies are coming to grips with the scope of the impact and damage a weaponized internet can cause. Everyone sees that no single solution, and certain no one approach alone is working. The problem mutates and adapts too rapidly.

We have managed to come together in the past to defeat a daunting enemy. Looks like we need that attitude again.