15 October 2020

British Future joins alliance of 11 UK charities to combat hate online

View all news

British Future is proud to be part of #StandUpToHate, an alliance of 11 charities that today launched #StandUpToHate, an innovative campaign on Twitter for Hate Crime Awareness Week to encourage digital citizenship online.

Media contact:
Steve Ballinger
07807 348988
steve@britishfuture.org

British Future is one of 11 charities that today launched #StandUpToHate, an innovative campaign on Twitter for Hate Crime Awareness Week to encourage digital citizenship online.

With people spending more time than ever online, the campaign aims to provide practical steps to encourage bystanders to feel equipped to act against all forms of hate online.

The 11 organisations participating in the initiative are:

  • Antisemitism Policy Trust
  • British Future
  • Galop
  • Glitch
  • Hope not Hate
  • Inclusion London
  • Jo Cox Foundation
  • Kick It Out
  • Media Diversity Institute
  • Tell Mama
  • Women’s Aid

Launching the initiative, the 11 organisations said:​

“We share the belief that a vital step in addressing online abuse is equipping online users with how to best support those at the receiving end of online hate. We hope to see widespread behaviour change, where as a society we feel enabled to play our part in making the online space free of hate – and to understand the hugely detrimental human and democratic impacts it has when left unchallenged. As digital citizens, each one of us has a responsibility to act, and the wholesale rejection of online hate and abuse online must be our end goal.”

When a tweeter ‘likes’ the promoted #StandUpToHate tweets from each of the 11 charities, they will be given simple steps to tackle hatred online, using an ​auto-reply format​ on Twitter developed by technology platform ​BlueRobot​. They will also be encouraged to tweet about the actions they are taking to #StandUpToHate in order to bring the campaign to a wider audience and keep this important message top of people’s timelines.

Katy Minshall, Head of Public Policy for Twitter UK said:

​“On Twitter, you should feel safe expressing your unique point of view. We believe in freedom of expression and open dialogue, but that means little as an underlying philosophy if voices are silenced because people are afraid to speak up. We are delighted to support these 11 organisations on this innovative campaign.”

Minister for Countering Extremism, Baroness Williams of Trafford said:

“The Government is clear that online offending is as serious as off-line offending which is why we are working with tech companies, law enforcement and our international partners to tackle hate crimes on tech platforms.

“We are also working at pace to develop legislation to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online, which will introduce a new duty of care on companies and will be overseen by an independent regulator.

“The #StandUpToHate campaign is a great initiative, bringing together a range of organisations to stamp out online hate, and we are pleased to support it.”

Minister of State for Communities Lord Greenhalgh said:

“We as a society have made great strides in tackling hatred and discrimination in our communities. However, we still have further to go, which is why I’m endorsing Hate Crime Awareness Week.

“With the work that we can all do together in standing up to hate, we can help secure a safer, more tolerant country – one in which all people feel free to live, no matter their faith, gender, race, sexuality or disability. So this week, and all those after, join us and #StandUpToHate.”

British Future’s latest activity on Twitter