Scrolling Down the Hatred: Is a Peaceful Social Media Possible?

Multi-ethnic societies have become increasingly common around the world, particularly in metropolitan centres. This has also magnified the challenges with regards to the coexistence between different races, religions, and languages. Existing political, economic and legal mechanisms mediating these differences sometimes fail to ensure social cohesion due to various forms of discrimination such as xenophobia and Islamophobia, causing tensions to, at times, reach dangerous levels. Social media is one of the major areas where such discriminatory rhetoric has become increasingly mainstream through hateful and biased content against individuals, groups or communities. Beyond the existing policy-making processes, in what ways can we develop tools against hate crimes? Can social media, which can work to fuel social hatred, also serve as a shield against hate crimes? As it pertains to hateful rhetoric, What’s NEXT for social media?