USCIRF - It was good to be a part of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing hearing that took place in October it was about how some governments use and enable others to use social media platforms to sow disinformation and hate speech that target religious communities and incite violence against them.
During the past two decades, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms have emerged as invaluable tools for connecting people around the world. However, we have also witnessed the use of social media to spread false and discriminatory information that dehumanizes specific groups of people, including faith communities and religious minorities. Online hate speech and misinformation has been
used to target and mobilize violence against the Rohingya in Burma, Jews in Iran, Shi’a Muslims in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and Christians and Muslims in Nigeria, to name only a few.
