Editorial: Our online discourse is veering towards hatred

The time has come for us to indulge in a little bit of self-analysis and ask: What exactly has happened to us? Should we not take any responsibility for the outcome of our actions?

We create tribes; we defend our tribes; we attack other tribes… and then nearly four out of every 10 of us claim to be affected by hate speech.

A Eurobarometer survey on the ‘Digital Decade’ found that the Maltese said hate speech online had a big impact on them, almost double the EU average (22 per cent) and the highest proportion across the bloc.

The Eurobarometer survey includes a variety of metrics, many of which show that the Maltese are more confident than the EU average about the way in which digital rights and principles are applied.

However, when it comes to hate speech, the difference between the Maltese and EU average is dramatically different.

What causes this? This little island is notorious for the territories we create, whether for parishes, football clubs or political parties.

There are many reasons why we draw these lines or the historical and cultural context that has fuelled them, but there is no doubt that few of them are based on survival. And there is equally no doubt that they have all too often tipped over the balance of acceptable behaviour and resulted in pettiness and violence.

Hatred, fear and prejudice fuel the discrimination against others, whether minorities or majorities, whether individuals or groups.

These tools – to divide and conquer – have been used unashamedly by political parties since Niccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince in the 16th century.

The comment boards on online news platforms had originally provided fertile ground for a whole gamut of observers although this eventually settled down to a predictable retaliatory banter. Even then, however, it was clear that observers could not or would not make the distinction between the issue and the person.

They fire personal salvos at each other which very rarely add any depth to the discussion underway.

Unfortunately, social media allowed this discussion to reach a frenzy stage as its popularity soared.

In 2023, Meta reported that nearly 79 per cent of the Maltese population used Facebook.

This meant that some 420,000 users had the potential to become keyboard warriors, adding their comments and opinions to posts by those they perceived to be from a different tribe, whether the discussion was about foreigners, homosexuals, partisan politics, TV reality shows or even football. The algorithms adopted by the social media giants meant that echo chambers grew exponentially.

Social media has allowed people to comment on everything, whether their opinion is informed or not, and irrespective of whether it will cause distress or not.

And how many of those impacted by hate speech forget the golden rule: if you dish it out, you also have to be able to take it on the chin.

We can choose to agree to disagree, but why resort to hate speech? It only creates a toxic environment of mistrust, breeding further misinformation and disinformation.

Too many people are falling victim to online hatred. Some are deliberately targeted, while others suffer from stereotyping, ostracisation and body shaming. This includes minorities and an increasing number of vulnerable young people who cannot withstand the onslaught of online hate and are resorting to extreme measures.

This cannot go on.