Open letters calls on Irish and UK governments to target online hatred

More than 200 civil society groups have released an open letter to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, First Minister Michelle O’Neill, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly & Taoiseach Simon Harris. 

Trade Unions, local and regional community groups, national organisations and networks, universities, business, faith groups, professional social work associations across Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the world have united to call on political leaders to act quickly to prevent further violence, protect communities at risk, and hold social media platform bosses to account for the harms they cause.

Joe Mulhall, a signatory to the letter from UK-based organization Hope Not Hate said “far-right actors, racists and certain politicians are spreading fear determined to create mayhem, intimidate and silence communities. Calls to racist violence were recorded across all social media platforms in the lead up to riots in Belfast and across England, as well as in Dublin last year”.

Tanya O’Carroll, with People vs Big Tech, said, “We know that people’s lives are affected by what plays out online. Social media and video platforms recommend hateful, false and violent content for people to see. This business model prioritises emotionally manipulative content through algorithms that drive sharing and engagement”.

Niamh McDonald, of the Hope and Courage Collective, Ireland said “as an immediate break-glass measure, to help stop the spread of hate, platform bosses must turn the toxic engagement-based recommender systems off by default and act rapidly on harmful content on their services. People should decide what they want to see, not Big Techs algorithms”.

McDonald continued, the joint call from hundreds of groups across the Republic of Ireland, Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the rest of the world represented the unity and collective action that needs to be replicated by governments tackling this problem, adding: “No matter where we live, we all suffer the consequences when social media platforms are allowed to profit from letting hateful, racist content spread. We want this letter, from hundreds of groups across the world, to spark the joint action that will be needed if we’re going to hold these companies to account.”

Stevie Nolan of Trademark – Anti-Sectarian Unit, Northern Ireland Committee of Irish Congress of Trade Unions said, “Our political leaders must act immediately and bring the bosses of platforms into an open public forum as a matter of urgency to answer questions on their (in)actions over the last weeks and clarify what steps they are taking immediately to protect people at risk”.

O’Carroll concluded “Our governments must step up and establish a joint public enquiry with a range of witnesses, including affected communities, civil society and the senior leadership of social media platforms, specifically Meta, Google/YouTube, X and TikTok. The inquiry will investigate how these companies have been allowed to operate with impunity and shine a light on the harms they have caused, and examine what updated measures are needed to address legislative gaps and enforcement”.

The full text of the open letter and list signatories can be read here: https://hopeandcourage.ie/hate-megaphone/