Hass und Fake News

Die Klassen 5A-WI und 4A-WI nahmen an einem Webinar zum Thema "Fake News und Hate Speech" teil. Das Webinar wurde von zwei Vortragenden der EURAC, Frau Crepaz und Herr Zeba, gehalten. Die Schülerin Verena Geier (5A-WI) berichtet auf Englisch.

"In the first part of the webinar, Mr. Zeba explained the concept of polarization and radicalisation in relation to fake news. He also pointed out how fake news can impact and encourage radicalist behavior and even, in an extreme case, lead to the formation of terrorist groups and to terrorist attacks. 

In the second part Ms. Crepaz talked about gender specific violence on social media and how women often get criticized for things that men are not. She showed us concrete examples of hate comments against women, not just online, but also how demeaning comments from, for example, politicians can cause a huge shitstorm online.  These examples made us realize the difference between a shitstorm a man may get, and one a woman may have to deal with. 

Overall, it was an interesting webinar containing quite complex information about the process involved in radicalisation, whereas the explanations about hate speech got us thinking about the hate spread on social media and what impact it can have on a person’s life. We were also reminded to check sources of the news we read. 

We appreciated the fact that the speakers also asked for our opinion and thoughts on the matter."

(Slide from presentation by Ms K. Crepaz, Eurac Research)