It was a message written to media executives from the commissioner of the police that during this period where General Election will be held in the country on 27th December, its necessary to be aware of the potential dangers of the misuse of media to broadcast hate
speech by those who may want to propagate ethnic stereotyping.
He noted that the society will pay a high cost when hate speech are
published to sell more copies in order get more money. He describes what Hate Speech. Hate speech is a form of speech intended to degrade, humiliate and
incite violence against others based on their ethnicity, race or gender. The motivation is not to express dissent but to intimidate, and create fear and revulsion. This quickly
results in murder, arson and inter-ethnic tensions that persist long after the campaigns are over.
He
cautions the media operators that they have a duty to make a distinction between the legitimate articulation of speech containing topical and at times controversial content for hate speech that incite people to violence or results to the degrading
stereotyping of communities.
Therefore articles in print should not incite people against other either by exaggerating facts.
And he asks at what point does hate speech become deadly and what does it take to make one
ethnic group take a machete and kill his neighbor? It takes much less than they could imagine.
But at the end of the killing spree and after the victims have been buried, what exactly was their contributions as the media?
He reminds them the role that was played by radio Mille Collins in Rwanda genocide.
He cautions them that legal; action will be taken if they fail to do so by preventing the hate speeches from being broadcasted or published.
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