Politics Podcast | Ep 5 "Stop Funding Hate"

Polis Project Conversation Series

In 2015 columnist Katie Hopkins published a piece in the British tabloid sun calling African migrants “cockroaches.” Ms. Hopkins is not alone. Speaking at election rallies in 2018, Amit Shah, India's Minister of Home Affairs, called Bangladeshi migrants “termites.” Shah’s spiteful rhetoric echoes authoritarian leaders, genocidaires, and war criminals who not only orchestrated mass violence but destroyed nations through dangerous speech for petty political ends. Dangerous speech and ideology that catalyze mass violence are strikingly similar across the world and through time. There is evidence that hate in the media leads to real-life violence. Researchers across the world have proved over and over again that hate in media leads to anti-migrant and anti-minority hate crimes. In response, social media campaigns like Stop Funding Hate have been launched to stop companies from advertising in and providing funds for certain newspapers and media platforms that use "fear and division to sell more papers." Today, joining us to discuss online hate and how making funding hate unprofitable are Richard Wilson and Dr. Ritumbra Manuvie. Richard Wilson is a writer, human rights activist, and co-founder of Stop Funding Hate. In August 2016, the campaign sought to make hate unprofitable and promote the idea of 'ethical advertising' by persuading companies to pull advertising from media that incite hatred against minority groups. Dr. Ritumbra Manuvie is an Assistant Professor and the Executive director of Foundation London Story, where her work revolves around Hate Speech and Hate crime. She looks at how the hateful narrative contributes towards dehumanizing minority and vulnerable groups. Her campaigns and research were instrumental in getting OpIndia - a right-wing web-based tabloid (comparable to Breitbart) defunded from Google AdSense. The podcast is available in video and audio formats. You can listen to our last episode here:https://thepolisproject.com/politics-podcast-ep-4/