Tackling the fight against racism online

The internet became a powerful tool for racist groups, but it also gave space to anti-racist organisations looking to break down barriers and share a message of peace.

By LEWIS SHANNON

In many parts of the world, the fight against racism has left the streets and moved online.

Greater technology is allowing people from all corners of life to connect and interact with one another, and this had led to groups forming  to combat racism and provide education at the click of a finger.

Exit White Power, a project led by AllTogetherNow.org.au, is an Australian-led program that has begun using the advertising tools of big businesses to target those interested in or already involved in groups surrounding racial hatred online.

Most modern search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing use algorithmic tracking that allows them to profile and record the searching habits of its user bases. This means that search engines use your previous online history to predict and shape the results of your searches.

Two people searching the same thing may be shown different things. For example, the search term “eagles” will bring up bird-related content for a person profiled as an animal lover,  while a sporting fanatic may be shown a football team.

The manager of the Exit project, who wishes to remain anonymous, says using the techniques of targeted advertising allows the group to hone in on people who search online for topics relating to white supremacy.

“Our online advertising targets Australians who are interested in white supremacist ideas – so that anyone going online to search for information about white supremacy also come across the Exit website. In the past six months almost 9000 individuals have visited the site from within Australia, and a number of white supremacist sites have included discussions of the Exit website.”

The Exit project's website exitwhitepower.com aims to “deconstruct the myths and conspiracy theories used by white supremacist groups” and to use social media to contact and interact with the public.

The aim is to create doubt in people's minds on racist issues and to offer advice to those looking to leave white power movements in a way that avoids face-to-face confrontation and allows people to interact anonymously.

“Given that our main aim is to prevent people from joining white supremacy groups in the first place, and the majority of our work is online, we often do not have direct contact with the individuals we reach. The aim of the project is to sew a seed of doubt in people’s minds,” the Exit project manager said.

Another group, FightDemBack, takes a more confrontational approach to dealing with racism and has been using its online presence to stir up support and get feet on streets in opposition to racism and fascism in Australia.

The co-ordinator of FightDemBack, who goes by the name SlackBastard, uses his eponymously named blog to collect and spread information regarding racist, neo-Nazi and other far-Right people in Australia.

The group's original volunteer-based website shut down in 2012, but recently re-emerged as a response to pro-Fascist movements in Brisbane.

On May 2 this year, the group ran counter-protests to marches that were organised by The Australia First Party, who were acting in support of members of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party in Greece.

Golden Dawn is under criminal investigation by Greek authorities for numerous acts of violence implicating high ranking members – including leader Nikolaos Michaloliakos – who are in prison awaiting trial on charges involving murder, arson and extortion.

Michaloliakos was arrested last year on charges of being involved in a criminal organisation after anti-racist rapper Pavlos Fyssas was stabbed on September 17, 2013.

While the Exit group is educating and FightDemBack is confronting, a third organisation has taken an entirely different approach.

The global networking organisation Against Violent Extremism (AVE) is using those most affected by racism and extremism to create its online platform, with a strong focus on  at-risk youths.

AVE brings together former extremists and survivors of violent attacks in an advocacy program that uses the experiences of their members to reach out to the public, while also offering support for grassroots projects abroad.

It also attempts to reconcile differences between victims and perpetrators of racist and extremist attacks.

The AVE website states: “Former violent extremists (‘formers’) and survivors of violent extremism are empowered to work together to push back extremist narratives and prevent the recruitment of ‘at risk’ youths.

“It leverages the lessons, experiences and networks of individuals who have dealt first-hand with extremism,” it says.

Tanya Silverman, a representative from AVE, says that the shift to the online world was a natural response to racist trends online.

“As the internet is touching all facets of our lives, and lowering the bar for risky or socially unacceptable behaviour such as racism or extremism, so our response must move to the online space. AVE has increasingly focused over the past number of years on encouraging our members to engage with extremist content online, and to create counter messaging videos and content, with a specific focus on social media,” she says.

“The internet has paved the way for increased connectivity and information sharing, whereby individuals now have easy access to a large amount of misguided information and propaganda regarding race and extremism. The way and speed at which the internet works means that this information is widely disseminated and very difficult to remove.”

The program was founded by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), which is a collective that works with leaders in government, business, media and academia to develop multi-country responses to the major security and socio-economic challenges, and Google Ideas, which is a think tank run by Google that explores how technology can enable people to confront threats in the face of conflict, instability or repression.

AVE has seen success which they have regularly attributed to the support they receive from the private sector, as the organisation does not receive funding from, or conduct work on behalf of, any governments or state agencies.

“We have succeeded over the past number of years in bringing together credible messengers, such as former extremists and survivors of extremism with experts from the technology sector who can ensure these messages reach the right audience,” Ms Silverman says.

Jessie Daniels, Professor of Sociology at the City University of New York, wrote in her book Cyber Racism: White Supremacy Online and the New Attack on Civil Rights, that the internet was significant factor in the future of race relations.

“The internet is an increasingly important front on the struggle to contest the meanings of race, racism, and civil rights,” she says.

It’s not just new organisations that are taking the fight against racism online; the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which was founded in 1913, has thrown its hat into the ring.

Coming from an era before public radio, let alone the internet, the ADL is one of the oldest civil rights/human relations agencies still running.

Jonathan Vick, an internet technology analyst from the ADL, says legal responses are often the least effective means of combatting racism and that public discourse in schools, in media, at work and in online environments is the most effective way to disempower hate groups.

“For over 100 years, the Anti-Defamation League’s mandate has been to combat anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry. Our work responding to the challenge of hate and anti-Semitism online centres on educating about the need for cyber-civility; empowering Internet users to flag, and if appropriate, to use counter speech to respond to hate speech they encounter; and building relationships with key industry players and encouraging them to enforce relevant terms of service,” he says.

He also says the nature of the internet has provided the means for groups to increase their reach in communities, just as anti-racist groups have done, but that the anonymous nature of the internet has allowed for frank and honest discussion.

On one hand, the anonymity of the internet has allowed those who feel trapped in or by hate groups to reach out and gain the support they need with relative safety, but on the other hand, it has allowed for online bullies to act without repercussions.

“The Internet has enabled extremists of all stripes to expand their reach and to find and have their hateful views reinforced by like-minded individuals they would have previously been unlikely to meet,” he says.

“It has also enabled bullies to target their victims with less fear of direct confrontation or consequences, particularly if they communicate their hate anonymously. On the positive side, it has enabled people of goodwill to speak up against corrosive and divisive rhetoric. Although the hate may be more obvious than in the past, the overwhelming condemnation of it is also readily on display.”

Unfortunately, these groups that oppose racism online have all come under some sort of threat as a result of their work.

The project manager for Exit said that his desire to remain anonymous was directly related to the threats that his group had received.

“From time to time we receive anonymous messages through the Exit site from people who aren’t happy to see us working to combat recruitment by white supremacist groups,” he says.

“They say things like ‘All your names have been noted for future trials of aiding and abetting genocide of white Australians’. And ‘you will be hunted down and tried for assisted genocide of Europeans. The penalty for that is very serious. You can't hide. We will find you’.”

FightDemBack even has a page on their website directly focused on the threats they receive.

One such threat “kindly asked” for the removal of a post written on the website's forum. It said: “One by one, everyone in this crusade of yours will be held to account before you are. I’m sure you know that’s the way these things work in the grownups world. Can you live with the guilt?” It goes on to state that the intended target of the threat has 24 hours to comply.

Additionally, in response to their counter-protest to the Golden Dawn in early May, members of the radical Right-wing forum Stormfront began posting photos of the protesters, with a user known as Anti-Antifa promising that “names and other info will be posted soon”.

However, it is not all negative, as public displays of racial recognition and reconciliation have become more common.

The most notable case was the 2012 Israel-loves-Iran movement started by graphic designer Ronny Edry.

In the wake of building tensions between Israel and Iran over supposed nuclear development in Iran, Edry began by creating a graphic design aimed at spreading pro-peace sentiments and posting it on Facebook.

The first design said: “Iranians we will never bomb your country, we love you.” When he woke he found his design had gone viral, with messages of support coming in from all over Israel and Iran.

He said in a TED talk that he was blown away by the response that he received.

“You have to understand, in Israel, we don’t talk to people from Iran, we don’t know people from Iran,” he said.

Within days he was receiving mass support from Iran and making global headlines. Copycat groups on Facebook started, with countries from around the world sending messages of love to one another, with the original Facebook page getting two million hits a week.

“Once you see your enemy as a human being similar to yourself, expressing his love, and understand he doesn’t hate you as years of propaganda succeed to make you believe, you can never go back to blind hate, then you can start to know each other and you will be ready for peace,” he says.