Victims of hate speech feel discouraged to file a report due to a flawed system, anti-hate speech activist Sara Ezabe Malliue said on Saturday.
Ms Ezabe Malliue, 21, was named in Forbes’ list of European ‘under 30s’ fighting hate speech, inequity and corruption. The third annual list features 3,000 entrepreneurs and leaders transforming areas in policy and law, among other sectors.
Speaking to The Sunday Times of Malta, Ms Ezabe Malliue said that despite being a hate-speech activist, she did not feel encouraged to report the hate speech she reads online.
“I’m one of the people most active in this area, and I still do not report everything,” she said. “I’ve seen police officers leave hateful comments, so I do not know who to trust.”
She pointed out that people need to make a report at their local police station rather than to the cyber-crime unit.
“I find this to be very irrelevant. If I have the screenshot, why should I go to the police station?” she said, pointing out that this could be one reason why hate-speech was under-reported.
She also complained that the regulations were allowing people on social media to get away with writing discriminatory comments.
After news of her achievement on Forbes broke out, Ms Ezabe Malliue saw discriminatory and threatening comments online. One comment called for the 21-year-old to be “burned slowly until she is completely charred”. The comment was later deleted from social media by moderators.
These messages often left a very negative psychological effect on those who had never encountered them, she said.
Ms Ezabe Malliue, however, had to learn to deal with the hate from an early age. “I am not affected by hate speech anymore because it has become part of my normal everyday situation,” she said, adding that learning to deal with the hate took a long time.
The activist also noted that there was a fine line between monitoring hate and safeguarding freedom of speech.
No human right is absolute, she said, adding that when some discriminate against others, they impinge on others’ right to be respected.
People felt confident commenting behind a computer screen, she added. And some created a fake profile to give themselves a platform to be hateful.
However, according to a magistrate, the courts are being inundated with cases involving threatening online comments.
Audrey Demicoli was speaking during a court case last week that landed a pensioner with a suspended sentence and a €500 fine for posting threatening comments against MEP David Casa.