Security lost and found: Why tackling anti-Roma hate speech online can improve content moderation standards globally (Part 1)
This article is by Pavlina Pavlova, who is a human rights, cybersecurity, and security expert consulting to international organizations and companies. She has been working on digital security assessment and capacity building of human rights defenders and gained first-hand experience about the risks and harm that inadequate content moderation possesses for the security of Roma in Europe. Pavlina is part of the civil society feedback to the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security (OEWG).
This piece argues that cyber and physical security are no longer separate — they are intertwined. This is particularly true for social media platforms that amplify views and can have a series of real-life consequences. Part 1 explains why this is the case through the experiences of Roma communities.
Racial hatred is not new, but the emergence of social media platforms has acted as a catalyst for bringing toxic content to the broader public at speed and scale. Hate speech is now rooted in mainstream experience for social media users. It ranges from being masked as a rational or justified opinion and mocking to dehumanising language and incitement to hatred, violence and even genocide. As statements can be shared, repeated, and engaged with at ease, online hate reaches a wider societal impact. Its presence has a stigmatising and discriminating effect on minorities due to perpetuating stereotypes and normalising hateful and hostile tones. Broadcasted hateful speech can contribute to radicalising people, with possible far-reaching security consequences for vulnerable communities and people in positions of marginalisation.
Roma people represent the largest transnational minority in Europe. An estimated 10–12 million persons of Roma origin live across the continent — mainly in its central, eastern, and south-eastern regions. They have been present in Europe for centuries, yet they are the most “remote” national minority in many societies and have historically been perceived as outsiders. The unfavourable views shared across countries support the notion of Roma as Europe’s “quintessential minority” — facing similar prejudices and exclusion in different settings. Roma communities are diverse and live in countries that vary in their socio-economic situation, historic background, and relation to minorities. However, as illustrated in the multiple manifestations of online hate, they present an image of the “conceptual gypsy” which is often mixed with explicit incitements to violence.
The common anti-Roma stereotypical narratives can be clustered in several groups, including criminalisation, welfare chauvinism and dehumanisation. Particularly persistent is the trope of Roma as “dirty”, “beggars”, “thugs” and “thieves” and a criminalised minority in general. People of Romani origin are presented as “parasites” on the social welfare system and accused of having anti-systemic behaviour such as nomadism, unemployment and low education ingrained in their genes. They are commonly referenced as “non-integratable” — a term favoured by political parties and individuals alike to escape a direct reference to the minority. The concept of a perceived “double standard” is a persistent image regularly reflected in hoaxes and disinformation materials. Some posts claim that Roma get preferential treatment from the authorities. This is supposedly reflected in allegedly higher social benefits and lower sentences for criminal offences that lead to an environment of impunity. These commentaries are often accompanied by calls for violent “solutions” to the “Roma problem” suggesting that “only violence works” on “them”.
By treating Roma as “abnormal citizens”, unable to fit into the mainstream society, prone to crime and misconduct and with a tendency to break social and legal norms, hate language is constructing an image that they are not belonging to the same community with the majority population. People of Romani origin are further subjected to dehumanising language comparing them to “vermin” or “pests” and similar slurs. Being framed as “second-class” or “inferior citizens” and perceived as a „threat to order and a burden on society” — Roma people still face an image that has been historically used to legitimise oppression, deportation, and extermination in genocide during the second world war. At the same time, there is a growing and noticeable trend of securitising the Roma issues. Presenting Roma as a potential threat to public order results in the emergence of “reasonable” anti-Roma sentiment that implies that measures taken against them are necessary for public security. This is happening against a background of violence attributed to online hate speech increasing globally.
Part 2 of this piece deals with content moderation decisions.
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