Impact of Hate on Youngster

    The internet has become a prime means of communication worldwide. As the internet has grown and changed , hate groups and movements have adopted, creating websites, forums and social network profiles, becoming active in spaces such as online games, and even creating parallel versions of services such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Wikipedia and many more.

    Many young people have a clear digital identity which very often reflects the core of who they are. For example, they may not be 'out' as LGBTQ offline but are in their online life. If this is attacked, it hits very hard at a unique part of themselves that they should be rightfully proud of. To be exposed to any form of hate speech that attacks their community or identity is painful and can sadly lead to some not wanting to 'reveal' that part of themselves.

    This directly affects their self-esteem and self worth and has very real impacts on their mental well being with many reporting high rates of anxiety and depression. Sometimes youngsters get so disturbed that they even do suicide which really worst part of online hate. Most of the social media platforms have reporting processes and each has their own guidelines around hate speech and incitement to violence or abuse whether this is in the form of written words or imagery on public platforms. This procedure also considers what may be considered freedom of speech. If in doubt, always report and their moderators will investigate and additionally this helps to refine the reporting systems to encompass emerging trends and adapt accordingly. There may be times when it may be difficult to navigate the reporting procedures or you may not be happy with the outcome. If you are unable to get harassing, abusive or hate content removed then you can contact us here. Ditch the Label are Trusted Flaggers across all the major platforms which means that we can often get content removed quickly, even if it has already been reported to no avail.

    With the growth of social media, many children will, unfortunately, come across hate speech online, and we must ensure that young people are aware of what they should do if they come across online hate speech. If children see hate speech online, it is paramount that they tell someone they trust be that a parent or a teacher, for example. This is important for a number of reasons; firstly, the hate speech must be reported to the appropriate body. Secondly, it is important to tell an adult to talk through what the child has seen - this is the case even if the hate speech does not directly affect the child it is still important for the child to understand that what has been said is hateful and wrong, going against the majority of society's values. If the hate speech has directly affected the child it is important they talk through how it has made them feel and what can be done to help them deal with these feelings.

    In 1957, the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the lower court. Lower court found publisher Ramji Lal Modi guilty of publishing a cartoon and article which insults religious beliefs of Muslims. He was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and fined under IPC 295A. Petitioner argued that IPC 295A violated freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19 (1)(A) of the Constitution and offense of insulting religious beliefs can be committed if there is no danger of public disorder.1819)

    India prohibits hate speech by several sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and by other laws which put limitations on the freedom of expression Section 95 of the Code of Criminal Procedure gives the government the right to declare certain publications "forfeited" if the "publication ... appears to the State Government to contain any matter the publication of which is punishable under Section 124A or Section 153A or Section 153B or Section 292 or Section 293 or Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code".

    Section 153A of the Indian penal code says, 31 inter alia:

    Whoever (a) by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, promotes or attempts to promote, on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities, or (b) commits any act which is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities, and which disturbs or is likely to disturb the public tranquillity, shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.

    Section 295(A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) enacted in 19274 says:51

    Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India by words. either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise), insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to (three years), or with fine, or with both.

    As Mark Zuckerberg said “Of course, hate speech and racism have no place on Facebook”

    "We only have one message for those who seek to push hate, division and violence: You have no place on our platforms," Apple CEO Tim Cook.

    Everyone is not brave to handle these things. There must be some system to handle these kinds of things. Counseling of students is a good way to deal with it . It's not a single person who suffers in everyone's life. At some point everyone faces these kinds of things. So it's everyone's duty to fight with it.

    Smriti Pathania
    Smriti Pathania

    I am Smriti Pathania. I am pursuing B. Tech. I love to write poems.