Communication minister calls for concerted efforts against hate speech.

The workshop was organised by youth-led civil society organisation, Civil Watch, in collaboration with the European Union, EU, delegation to Cameroon. 

It served as an incubation ground to fine-tune strategies to combat hate speech in the traditional and social media, barely one-year to multiple elections in the country. 

It saw over 75 participants brainstorm on strategies to curb the spread of hate speech and identify Early Warning and Early Response, EWER, mechanisms for fostering social cohesion and peace. 

The workshop also set up a hate speech monitoring and reporting task force managed by Civic Watch and the EU Delegation in Cameroon.

Enter MINCOM boss 

Speaking at the workshop, Minister Rene Emmanuel Sadi, engaged civil society stakeholders, religious leaders, political parties, youth, as well as the media, to each be accountable for the protection of social cohesion, peace, and love for one another through defying hate speech. 

He further lauded the initiative taken by Civic Watch organisation in establishing such a platform to sensitise the public, stressing that the government will spare no effort on its part to bring perpetrators of hate speech to face law where need be.   

On his part, the Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, head of political, press, and information section, Phillippe Lafosse, said the EU is willing to support any initiative like that of Civic Watch to sensitise and curb hate speech from the fabric of the society. 

The workshop featured exchanges, group work, and recommendations on topics such as the role of the observatory in conceptualising hate speech and strategies of combating the vice. It also touched on the promotion of the Observatory and fundraising for sustainability. 

Speaking to the press, the Country Project Manager of the defyhatenow and founder of Civic Watch, Ngala Desmond, said: “We are launching a multi-stakeholder platform to collect, analyse and flag factors of hate speech in Cameroon. We think it is time to push for a holistic and collective approach toward reducing and why not stamping out hate speech in a year that precedes elections”. 

It is for this reason that participants at the workshop were expected to create a multi-stakeholder joint task force platform to monitor, report and take action against hate speech in Cameroon.

Participants are also expected to increase awareness on countering hate speech, and media engagement in countering hate speech through relevant content. The initiative aims to transform bystanders into community peace weavers through monitoring and reporting systems.

One of the guests speakers, former President of Cameroon Bar Association, Barrister Akere Muna, enlightened participants on the dangers of hate speech through an presentation titled: “Mitigating hate speech through the use of digital tools and ICT: context and prospects in Cameroon”. 

Using himself as a leading example of a victim of hate speech, Barrister Akere Muna, cautioned the political class against the use of hate speech during campaigns. He cited depression, suicide, and social disorder, among others as common consequences of hate speech on the victims.