Skip to main content

WORDS MATTER; STAND FOR HATE FREE CAMEROON.


The socio-political crisis in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon that degenerated into an armed conflict, has come to add more salt in the wound of the social fabric of Cameroon, not only in these two Anglophone regions, but all over the national triangle. #defyhatenow Cameroon for example, after a careful observation of some online and offline activities, came to the conclusion that, there is need to Mobilize Civic Action to Counter Hate Speech and Violent Extremism both Online and Offline.

It was therefore with shouts of joy and ululations that #defyhatenow Cameroon launched an online campaign to strengthen the voices and support the actions of primarily youth, community and media oriented civil society organizations, to counter social media based hate speech, conflict rhetoric and directed online incitement to violence in response to Cameroon’s ‘Anglophone Crisis’. The project provides capacity building and media literacy trainings to enable community based organizations and citizens, including people displaced by conflict, to become positive influencers with counter-actions, fact-checking and early response monitoring skills, peace-building, as well as education and culture oriented activities in a rapidly evolving social media landscape, rather than leaving that space open to agents of conflict.

Taking a stand against hate speech

Human rights experts, media and civil society organizations, repeatedly issue findings revealing serious instances of violence, hostility, intolerance and discriminatory attitudes towards minorities. They are often fueled by abusive discourse in the media. This goes against the very ideas of peace. Human rights, democracy and the rule of law are at the heart of our identity. It is important to protect the fundamental and human rights of everyone, be they ethnic, religious, sexual minorities or immigrants who are often the victims of hate speech and intolerance. One of #defyhatenow Cameroon, Advocates for Equity & Development, is running an online engagement campaign with a #HateFreeCameroon Photo frame as a tool to raise awareness of hate speech and its risks for democracy, and promote tolerance and multicultural awareness.

Online hate speech, propaganda, incitement to violence, and threats are posted and shared by numerous users and agents, from within the country and through the international diaspora–both knowingly and unaware of the consequences of their messaging. Many are organized, acting as conflict influencers in social media groups and on time-lines. They target fellow citizens, community organizations, schools, governments, international agencies–cutting across all social strata, both Anglophone and Francophone.

This peace-building collaboration between #defyhatenow Cameroon, its partner Advocates for Equity & Development and the media and civil society organizations has been enabled to keep the many conflict mitigation conversations going, develop public resources, including a comprehensive bilingual Social Media Hate Speech Mitigation Guide and to support local activists and peace oriented media-based activities.


It is worth noting here that, the #defyhatenow Cameroon initiative, works on providing community-based and data-driven solutions to the problem of hate speech, disinformation and misinformation. Their work focuses on creating a framework for increasing trust between stakeholders through mobilizing civic action against all forms of hate speech and incitement to violence, including disinformation created via the Anglophone Crisis in the two English speaking regions of Cameroon, the influx of refugees in the West Region of Cameroon as a result of the arm conflict in the North-West and South-West Regions, and also via the Covid-19 pandemic. #defyhatenow Cameroon seeks to support the voices and actions of citizens working against online induced conflict within and outside affected regions by bringing youth, community leaders, grassroots organizations and further civil society stakeholders into a peace-oriented media and information literacy framework. Bridging gaps of knowledge and awareness of social media mechanisms between those with access to technology and those without, #defyhatenow Cameroon is a growing network of online and offline peace-builders.

By Stephen Ojang.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LES BRASSERIES DU CAMEROUN: Poised to revamp dying North West Economy.

As the crisis persists in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon, economic sabotage has been part of the modus operandi of the Separatists. One of the companies that have suffered from such sabotage is the Brewery company, Les Brasseries Du Cameroun. However in it’s new program as announced by the company Earlier this year, it seeks to revamp it’s commercial Centre in Bamenda and the 4 Depots of Kumbo, Nkambe, Wum and Fundong. This with a workforce of 400 workers, over 200 in Bamenda and about 50 in each of the 4 Depots, with a majority of the workers hailing from the North West Region. It is calculated that, over 30 Suppliers, two of whom supply the majority of the drinks sold in the Bamenda Commercial Centre, about 3000 regular retailers and over 2000 in the informal sector will get employed. They will be able to develop their families and improve on their livelihood by educating their children, building decent homes, and investing in diverse fields,
Post a Comment
Read more

NORTH WEST PUBLIC INDEPENDENT CONCILIATOR

The PIC while addressing local masses in Wum Council area, Mr. Tamfu Fai, appealed to the government to create divisional representations.   In the Anglo-Saxon tradition, it is customary to set up independent authorities responsible for settling disputes between users and regional and council administration. In line with this logic, Law No.2019/24 of 24 December 2019 to institute the General Code of Regional and Local Authorities provides for an independent authority called the Public Independent Conciliator (PIC) in the North-West and South-West Regions. The office holder is by no means a legal authority or a judge, as the competences and powers entrusted to him are not of a legal nature. The PIC is responsible, inter alia, for amicably settling disputes between users and the regional and council administration, defending and protecting rights and freedoms with regard to the relationship between citizens and the region or the councils thereof, conducting any investigation on the funct
Post a Comment
Read more

FRENCH PRESIDENT, EMMANUEL MACRON, DISAVOWS DECENTRALIZATION AS SOLUTION TO ANGLOPHONE CONFLICT; OPTS FOR REGIONALISM.

  Image an elephant walked into the room. It's definitely something you would notice. It's also something people would describe in many different ways. Some might see it as a monster or a threat, while others (like The Colbert Factor) might think it's the greatest thing ever. It would ultimately mean something different to everyone, and that would influence the way each person understood it. The visit of the French President was the elephant walking into the Cameroon room.   Emmanuel Macron and Paul Biya in Yaoundé. July 25-27 2022 Last week's visit by recently re-elected French President, Emmanuel Macron, was too substantial to ignore. To most ordinary Cameroonians, his remarks after the close to two hours high-level talks with long-serving President Paul Biya, were great. To others, (especially those in government), they were a threat to what government had given a pat on its back for a fast-track of the decentralization process with a Special Status for the North Wes
Post a Comment
Read more