Center for Countering Digital Hate

The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) is a nonprofit limited company, limited by guarantee, with offices in London and Washington DC.[3] Its founder and CEO is Imran Ahmed.[1] The organization dates its foundation to December 2017,[1] although the company, Center for Countering Digital Hate Ltd, was not incorporated until October 2018.[2]

"CCDH" redirects here. For the Moroccan human rights organization, see National Human Rights Council (Morocco).
Center for Countering Digital Hate
AbbreviationCCDH
Formation2017-2018[1][2]
FounderImran Ahmed[1]
Purpose"To disrupt the architecture of online hate and misinformation"[3]
Directors
Tom Brookes
Simon Clark (Chair)
Damian Collins MP
Kirsty McNeill
Siobhan McAndrew
Lord Jonathan Oates
Ayesha Saran[4]
Websitewww.counterhate.co.uk

The organisation's stated aims are "strengthening communities and democracy by disrupting identity-based hate and dangerous misinformation in digital spaces." It advocates that American "big tech" firms such as YouTube, Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, Instagram and Apple stop providing services to individuals who they claim preach hate and misinformation, in order to disrupt those individuals' and their organisations' communications, recruitment and fundraising. The CCDH has run a number of successful high-profile campaigns to disrupt the activities of antisemites, neo-Nazis, anti-vaccine advocates and climate change deniers, gaining several celebrrity endorsements for their campaigns.

The organisation is a member of the Stop Hate For Profit coalition[5] and the Change the Terms coalition.[6] From 4 May 2020, the Stop Funding Fake News campaign became a project of the CCDH.[7]

Deplatforming campaigns

The CCDH has targeted antisemites,[8] neo-Nazis,[9] anti-vaccine advocates[10] and climate change deniers,[11] gaining endorsement for their campaigns from numerous international celebrities, including Sacha Baron Cohen,[12] Selena Gomez,[13] Josh Gad,[14] Amy Schumer,[15] Mark Ruffalo,[16] Sarah Silverman,[17] Kerry Washington,[18] Chris Evans[15] and Ed Helms.[18]

It has been cited by US Senators[19][20] and members of the US Congress[21] as well as Members of the UK Parliament.[22]

Campaign against Galloway and Hopkins
Further information: Twitter suspensions
Rachel Riley and the CCDH lobbied "big tech" companies to deplatform George Galloway and Katie Hopkins.

The CCDH's first significant campaign began in January 2020; the targets for this campaign were Katie Hopkins, a right-wing commentator, and George Galloway, a veteran left-wing politician and broadcaster who was sacked from his job at Talkradio for posting an allegedly antisemitic tweet.[23] TV presenter Rachel Riley was one of the public faces of the campaign, directly lobbying "big tech" companies alongside the CCDH to have these individuals removed from major social media platforms. Similar methods had already taken place in regards to American figures, such as conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in 2018, who was completely removed from all "big tech" platforms. According to media reports Riley and CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed had a "secret meeting" with Twitter's Soho, London based office, demanding the removal of Hopkins and Galloway from their platform.[24]

At the meeting with Twitter representatives on 29 January 2020, Ahmed and Riley stated that their demand was to exclude "hate actors from public discourse". They presented a number of posts by Hopkins and Galloway which they claimed were in breach of Twitter's community guidelines, demanding that they stop their "ability to use the platform to spread hate" and deplatform them from Twitter to eliminate "hate actors from public discourse".[25][26][27] Ultimately, the CCDH's attempt to remove Galloway from Twitter failed, but Hopkins had her account suspended for a week in February 2020,[28] and eventually removed permanently in July 2020.[29]

Campaign against David Icke
The British conspiracy theorist David Icke, who the CCDH sought to deplatform in 2020.

In April 2020 the CCDH launched acampaign against the British conspiracy theorist David Icke, who gained media attention during the COVID-19-associated lockdown in the United Kingdom.[30] Icke posted a number of controversial videos to his YouTube account, which included an interview with Brian Rose of London Real where Icke posited a conspiracy theory which attempted to link the erection of 5G masts to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the British lockdown, the CCDH worked to counter COVID-19 misinformation. The CCDH released a 25-page pamphlet attacking Icke entitled "#DeplatformIcke"[31] and campaigned to persuade social media platform to remove his accounts, using the hashtag "#DeplatformIcke". The CCDH demanded the total removal of Icke's online presence from "big tech" platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, Instagram and Apple, portraying him as a "hate actor" on their website.

The #DeplatformIcke pamphlet sent out by CCDH to "big tech" giants was signed by 800 individuals, according to the CCDH, and groups.[32] in particular the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Antisemitism (Andrew Percy and Catherine McKinnell both signed), as did Damian Collins, Conservative MP who was the former chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee. Antisemitism monitoring organisation, the Community Security Trust (CST), also supported the letter, with CST's Dave Rich calling for Icke's "hateful and dangerous conspiracy theories to be removed from mainstream social media platforms."[30]

Icke, a prolific content creator, had a public audience of more than 1 million followers on YouTube, as well as on Facebook and Twitter. Two of the websites, YouTube and Facebook, deleted his accounts from their website: Facebook deleted his account on 1 May 2020, stating as the reason "health misinformation that could cause physical harm",[33] YouTube followed on 2 May 2020 stating: "YouTube has clear policies prohibiting any content that disputes the existence and transmission of Covid-19 as described by the WHO and the NHS."[34] While both of Icke's personal accounts were deleted from the two websites, both allowed other uploaders to host Icke-related content unrelated to COVID-19. Ahmed and the CCDH praised the response to their call, but continued to demand that complete internet-wide deplatforming be enacted against Icke and a shadow ban of all his content be enforced.[35][36]

In November of 2020, Twitter removed David Icke's account for violating the site's rules against spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. This was welcomed by the CCDH.[37]

Other actions

The CCDH notified Google that the Zero Hedge website had published what it called "racist articles" about the Black Lives Matter protests. As a result, in June 2020, Google found that reader comments on Zero Hedge breached its policies and banned Zero Hedge from its advertising platform.[38]

Directors and associates
Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate

The organisation was founded by its current CEO, Imran Ahmed, who is also a trustee of Victim Support[39] and sits on the steering committee for the Commission for Countering Extremism's Pilot Task Force.[40] Ahmed previously co-authored the book The New Serfdom: The Triumph of Conservative Ideas and How to Defeat Them with Labour MP Angela Eagle and worked as a political advisor to Labour MP Hilary Benn.[41][42]

Morgan James McSweeney, currently chief of staff to the Leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer,[43] was the first Director listed on Companies House, appointed in October 2018.[44] McSweeney resigned in April 2020. McSweeney was joined in September 2019, upon the public launch of the Center, by three other directors: David Craig Roberts, Dr. Siobhan Marie McAndrew,[44] a sociology lecturer at the University of Bristol[45] and Kirsty Jean McNeill,[44] an Executive Director at Save the Children and Board member of the Holocaust Educational Trust and the Coalition for Global Prosperity.[46] More recent directors include Simon Clark (Chair), Tom Brookes, Executive Director, Strategic Communications at the European Climate Foundation,[47] Damian Collins MP, a Conservative Member of Parliament and former Chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, Lord Jonathan Oates, a Liberal Democrat Member of the House of Lords and former chief of staff to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, and Ayesha Saran[44]

Publications

"Don't Feed the Trolls"

The CCDH first garnered media attention by publishing a 12-page pamphlet "Don't Feed the Trolls: How to Deal with Hate on Social Media" in 2019, with an introduction by the CCDH's CEO Imran Ahmed and chair of Advisory Board, Canadian psychologist Linda Papadopoulos.[48][49] The Center acknowledged the assistance of the following individuals as having "provided valuable insight or feedback in the writing of this report";[48] Morgan McSweeney, Siobhan McAndrew, Rachel Riley, Dave Rich (of the Community Security Trust), Dr. Daniel Allington (of King's College London),[50] Simon Clark (of the Center for American Progress),[51] Euan Neill (of the Commission for Countering Extremism), Randeep Ramesh (of The Guardian),[52] Hannah O'Rourke, Will Somerville (of Unbound Philanthropy), Dr. Kate Ferguson (of Protection Approaches, an NGO which focuses on "identity-based violence and mass atrocity crimes"),[53] Dr. Robert Ford (of the University of Manchester)[54] and Jonathan Sebire (of Signify).[55]

The central thesis of the "Don't Feed the Trolls" pamphlet is that what the CCDH describes as internet trolls operate through manipulating social media algorithms and if a tweet or Facebook post receives engagement (whether positive or negative) then it is seen by a wider audience, particularly if the feedback is from a high-profile account. The pamphlet advises those who are on the receiving end of the messages not to respond, block the user, do not highlight being targeted and take time off social media.[56] The pamphlet cited as ideological inspiration the works of several American-based sociologists, psychologists and political thinkers, including Cass Sunstein's Going to Extremes: How Like Minds Unite and Divide (2009) and On Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, What Can Be Done (2011), Jonathan Haidt's The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion (2012), George Lakoff's Don't Think of an Elephant! Know Your Values and Frame the Debate: The Essential Guide for Progressives (2004) and Nancy L. Rosenblum's A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiricism and the Assault on Democracy (2019).[56][48]

The "Don't Feed the Trolls" campaign has attracted a number of high-profile supporters such as Sadiq Khan (the Mayor of London),[57] Rachel Riley,[57] Gary Lineker[57] and Eddie Izzard.[58]

See also

References
  1. "Our People". Center for Countering Digital Hate. 26 May 2020.
  2. "Center For Countering Digital Hate Ltd". Companies House. 10 May 2020. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020.
  3. "About Us". The Center for Countering Digital Hate. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  4. "CENTER FOR COUNTERING DIGITAL HATE LTD". Officers (free information from Companies House). 2020-10-09. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  5. Frazer, Jenni. "'The reason social media companies tolerate hate? Profit'". jewishnews.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  6. Ahmed, Imran [@Imi_Ahmed] (8 December 2020). "Delighted that @CCDHate was invited to join the @changeterms Coalition and has accepted. It is an important voice in the debate to #ChangeTheTerms on digital spaces and how they are socialised and governed" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  7. "Stop Funding Fake News". Stop Funding Fake News. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  8. Center for Countering Digital Hate [@CCDHate] (3 November 2020). "David Icke has finally been removed from Twitter, following Facebook and YouTube earlier this year. Twitter had allowed him to continue spreading antisemitic hatred and dangerous Covid misinformation for months. t.co/TQ5tWr5LFG" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  9. "Facebook Still Ignoring Warnings of Neo-Nazi Fundraising Network on Its Platforms, New Report Claims". Algemeiner.com. 2020-11-23. Retrieved 2021-01-05.
  10. Burki, Talha (2020-10-01). "The online anti-vaccine movement in the age of COVID-19". The Lancet Digital Health. 2 (10): e504–e505. doi:10.1016/S2589-7500(20)30227-2. ISSN 2589-7500. PMID 32984795.
  11. Stop Funding Fake News [@SFFakeNews] (9 December 2020). "NEW: These brands all claim to claim to care about #ClimateChange But their adverts are funding websites that deny climate change. We're calling on them to remove their ads and #DefundClimateDenial Join us. THREAD ⬇️ t.co/AJU3f9x5KH" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  12. Center for Countering Digital Hate [@CCDHate] (22 November 2020). "NEW: Facebook and Instagram are hosting accounts that sell neo-Nazi merchandise to fund far-right extremism. Facebook was told two years ago and failed to act. Our breaking research in @ObserverUK. t.co/PJ3toGnKEp" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  13. "Selena Gomez Accuses Facebook and Instagram of "Tolerating This Hate" Seen on Social Media". E! Online. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  14. Gad, Josh [@joshgad] (5 November 2020). "Hey @Facebook what you are doing is supporting calls for violence. This is insanity. t.co/P6hedoXxQi" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  15. Ahmed, Imran [@Imi_Ahmed] (27 October 2020). "Hey, the bad guys may have @Google on their side. We'll take @ChrisEvans any day. 🇺🇸 Find out more and sign the letter here: t.co/LfItQC2tXB t.co/YeTgYC6K7c" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  16. Ruffalo, Mark [@MarkRuffalo] (5 November 2020). "It should be obvious to the folks who work @facebook that these memes and messages shared in this group are further inciting hate and violence. This group needs to be taken down before more harm will be done. t.co/VDZEIf4Ixp" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  17. Silverman, Sarah [@SarahKSilverman] (5 November 2020). "COUNT EVERY SINGLE VOTE t.co/I2R3cno0JP" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  18. Center for Countering Digital Hate [@CCDHate] (30 October 2020). "It's amazing to have the support of people like @selenagomez, @MarkRuffalo, @edhelms, @kerrywashington, and @amyschumer in calling for Google to stop placing ads on election misinformation websites. Join them and sign our letter to Google today: t.co/3BRo9na5u7 t.co/JGT0ilynlC" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  19. Center for Countering Digital Hate [@CCDHate] (17 November 2020). "WATCH: Senator @CoryBooker asks Mark Zuckerberg why it took action by the Center for Countering Digital Hate to get the Stop the Steal group, containing misinformation and calls for violence, taken down. t.co/QrkKEb9e8U t.co/mg4rPVDRoq" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  20. "Klobuchar, Warner, Colleagues Urge Google to Improve Ad Policies and Combat Election-Related Disinformation". U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  21. "Reps. Malinowski and Eshoo Introduce Bill to Hold Tech Platforms Liable for Algorithmic Promotion of Extremism". Representative Tom Malinowski. 2020-10-20. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  22. Center for Countering Digital Hate [@CCDHate] (14 July 2020). "WATCH: @CPJElmore MP raises our new report, The Anti-Vaxx Industry, in Parliament and demands action. Health Secretary @MattHancock says he is meeting @nick_clegg of @Facebook this week to discuss the issue. t.co/eZmNzcajrq" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  23. "George Galloway sacked by talkRADIO over allegedly anti-Semitic tweet". BBC. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  24. "Countdown's Rachel Riley in secret talks over Katie Hopkins' Twitter suspension". Metro. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  25. "Katie Hopkins' account locked after an anti-hate group met with Twitter". iNews. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  26. "Katie Hopkins locked out of Twitter after Rachel Riley intervention". Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  27. "Katie Hopkins suspended from Twitter for violating social network's anti-hate policy". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  28. "Katie Hopkins' Twitter Reinstated Following Week-Long Absence". Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  29. Slawson, Nicola; Waterson, Jim (19 June 2020). "Katie Hopkins permanently removed from Twitter". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  30. "Icke antisemitic conspiracies viewed over 30 million times, new research shows". The Jewish Chronicle. 10 May 2020.
  31. "#DeplatformIcke: How Big Tech powers and profits from David Icke's lies and hate, and why it must stop" (PDF). Center for Countering Digital Hate. 10 May 2020.
  32. "YouTube terminates David Icke's account over Covid-19 conspiracy theories". ITV News. 10 May 2020.
  33. "Coronavirus: David Icke kicked off Facebook". BBC News. 10 May 2020.
  34. "Coronavirus: David Icke's channel deleted by YouTube". BBC. 10 May 2020.
  35. "YouTube terminates David Icke's account". Yahoo! News. 10 May 2020.
  36. "YouTube deletes conspiracy theorist David Icke's channel". The Guardian. 10 May 2020.
  37. "Twitter bans David Icke over Covid misinformation". BBC News. 2020-11-04. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  38. Fraser, Adele-Momoko (17 June 2020). "Google bans website ZeroHedge from its ad platform over comments on protest articles". NBC News. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  39. "Board of Trustees". Victim Support.
  40. "Pilot Task Force Steering Committee". Commission for Countering Extremism. 26 May 2020.
  41. "Imran Ahmed". Bite Back Publishing. 10 May 2020.
  42. "In the thick of it: what it's really like working for an MP". Houses of Parliament. 10 May 2020.
  43. "Morgan McSweeney". Keir Starmer MP. 9 Dec 2020.
  44. {{cite web |url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/11633127/officers%7Ctitle=Center For Countering Digital Hate Ltd|work=Companies House|date=10 May 2020
  45. "Dr Siobhan McAndrew". University of Bristol. 10 May 2020.
  46. "Kirsty McNeill". Save the Children. 9 Dec 2020.
  47. "Tom Brookes". European Climate Foundation. 9 Dec 2020.
  48. "Don't Feed the Trolls: How to Deal with Hate on Social Media" (PDF). CCDH. 10 May 2020.
  49. "Don't feed the Troll: Sadiq Khan, Gary Lineker and Rachel Riley pledged not to publicise abuse they receive online". The Independent. 10 May 2020.
  50. "Dr. Daniel Arlington". King's College London. 10 May 2020.
  51. "Simon Clark". Center for American Progress. 10 May 2020.
  52. "Randeep Ramesh, social affairs editor, the Guardian". The Guardian. 10 May 2020.
  53. "Kate Ferguson". International Journalism Festival. 10 May 2020.
  54. "Prof Robert Ford". University of Manchester. 10 May 2020.
  55. "Never Again" (PDF). The Convention. 10 May 2020.
  56. "How to Deal With Hate on Social Media: Don't Feed the Trolls". NHS Horizons. 10 May 2020.
  57. "Gary Lineker and Rachel Riley are silencing trolls once and for all - by doing this one simple thing". Birmingham Mail. 10 May 2020.
  58. "Stop engaging with online trolls altogether, public figures say". The Guardian. 10 May 2020.

Further reading
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.