A report by an NGO, Center For Information Technology and Development (CITAD), has said there is increase in hate speech among Nigerians on social media.
CITAD Bauchi office Senior Programme Officer, Isah Garba, disclosed this while speaking at a press conference on ‘Monitoring and Countering Hate and Dangerous Speech’ in Bauchi yesterday, saying that CITAD with support from McArthur Foundation had carried out a survey using an automated online platform to monitor and counter hate and dangerous speeches online as well as monitor selected newspapers and other printed mediums and came up with a report. He said the report indicated that 60.3 percent of hate speeches recorded came from Facebook, 5.9 percent from newsletters and four percent from blogs surveyed within the period.
“In our report we found that 63 percent of the hate speakers are prominent people while 39 percent of them reported as non-prominent. This is also a serious issue of concern as the percentage of the prominent people making hate speeches is on the rise,†he said. The report shows that 35.2 percent of the hate speeches surveyed insults people for their religion; abuses people for their ethnic or linguistic affiliation; or express contempt against people because of their place of origin.