Counterspeech Do's and Don't's for Students

Tips for countering online social cruelty

You could call it the newest online safety tool (that works on any device!). This is students’ first solid, research-based guidance for safe, constructive – potentially powerful – counterspeech in social media.

Research shows that most students want to help when they witness harassment online and offline – they just don’t know how. Here’s help for the online part of that. The bullying prevention field talks about turning bystanders into upstanders. Here’s help for those digital bystanders. Upstanders can be counterspeakers, as well as supporters online and in person! This tool is a joint project of NetFamilyNews.org, HeartMob and Project HEAR, adapting the fine work of The Dangerous Speech Project and other researchers for students and others seeking to turn around online hate – and with special thanks to illustrator Kendall Simpson and our student advisers. Please share this widely!

The text-only version of this resource can be found here. You can download the cartoon as a PDF here. Feel free to print it out and share it widely!

References

• “Considerations for Successful Counterspeech,” by Susan Benesch, Derek Ruths, Kelly P Dillon, Haji Mohammad Saleem and Lucas Wright
• More tips for countering harassment offline as well as online at iHollaback.org
• “Defusing Hate: A Strategic Communication Guide to Counteract Dangerous Speech,” by Rachel Brown
• Megan Phelps-Roper’s February 2017 TED Talk
• HeartMob’s Social Media Safety Guides
• FAQ at DangerousSpeech.org
• “Stopping Hate: How to Counter Hate Speech on Twitter,” a pdf guide from the Media Diversity Institute in London
• StoptheTrolls.org, a project of the London-based Media Diversity Institute, the Washington, D.C.-based International Center for Journalists, Brussels-based CEJI (Centre Europeen Juif d’Information) and other international organizations working against racism and hate speech.

This resource has literally been in the works for years: Here’s some background on counterspeech as an online safety tool in a 2015 post at NetFamilyNews.org.