This is from a welcome email I received when subscribing to Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. I’m reprinting it here because I like how it states the issue and what needs to be done to combat the far-right extremism going on around the world.
Hate and far-right extremism don’t stop at a country’s borders and neither can our work to combat it.
GPAHE aims to identify and disrupt the global connections of racist and extreme ideologies which lead to real-world harms, violence, and discriminatory policies that demonize entire communities and undermine democracies.
We do this by:
- Exposing and disrupting white supremacy and other far-right transnational movements, with a focus on the export of American extremism to other countries.
- Pressuring technology companies to prohibit far-right extremist, hateful, and racist movements from using their platforms to organize, propagandize, recruit followers and undermine democracy.
- Educating anti-hate actors, policymakers, and the public about hate and extremism and advocate for policy change to eradicate it.
- Working with communities and transnational networks of anti-racist and human rights advocates to build power and protect inclusive societies.
Together, we’re promoting human rights that are central to flourishing, multicultural societies and democracies.
End of Welcome email.
And with that, it reminded me of what’s going on with Twitter and why we should not participate on the platform.
If you’ve seen some of Twitter’s new owners’ tweets lately, it’s clear that he is trying to incite violence against American citizens and other groups, see Elon Musk declares his pronouns are ‘Prosecute/Fauci’ — and science claps back.
Hate, is a way that drives clicks and revenue.
The increase of racist, homophobic, transphobic, and anti-science rhetoric has increased significantly on Twitter, and some pornographic content is now showing up.
Historically, whenever there is a violent takeover, whether fascism, colonization, a governmental flip-flop, a coup, if you will, they go after the religious minority, the racial minority, or anyone who fits into the LBGTQIA group. And then they come after the artists, scientists (see article above), and teachers, see Who is Behind the Attacks on Educators and Public Schools?
For now, I’m keeping my Twitter account so I can check in on what’s happening every so often but will not participate.
I’ve started posting at Mastodon (mastodon.world/@billbolmeier) and Post.News (post.news/billbolmeier) as well as reposting on TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@billbolmeier).