In an article titled “Bloggers warned on hate postings” in the Daily Nation dated 3rd January 2013 (page 10), The National Steering Committee on Media Monitoring of the Ministry of Information has put bloggers on notice regarding Hate speech.
Thousands of comments on blogs have been flagged as potentially dangerous and media houses have been put on notice “to exercise some form of control to ensure vitriol did not filter into their blogs.”
The Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) is cognisant of the role that bloggers play in influencing public discourse. We have engaged in training activities with Article 19, a London-based human rights organisation with a specific mandate and focus on the defense and promotion of freedom of expression, our Chairman gave a speech on Responsible Blogging at WordCamp, a gathering of organizations and individuals using the WordPress platform to run their websites and our members received training from Media Council of Kenya to ensure that they use their freedom of expression responsibly.
The article raised some issues which we need to clarify. Let’s begin with how we define what a blog is.
According to Wikipedia, a blog is a discussion or informational site published on the internet and consisting of discrete entries called “posts”, a blogger therefore, is the individual or group of individuals who maintains or add content to a blog.
A key component of a blog, the feature that distinguishes it from traditional media is interactivity.
Blogs allow visitors to leave comments and even message each other on the site. This allows for duplex communication, in sharp contrast to the one way, “broadcast” nature of traditional media. A person who comments on a blog, therefore is not a blogger. However, their input is an important part of the blogging process. It keeps the blogger on their toes, calling them out on inaccuracies, providing insight from other points of view and in some cases providing additional information.
Blogs are an outlet for the expression of free speech by not only the blogger, but his/her readers. Bloggers do not only produce content to post on their blogs, but also build relationships with their readers and other bloggers.
The rise of social media has helped blogs integrate into the general public’s information stream. Established media organizations have realised this and have begun to allow comments on their online properties. However, unlike blogs, the writers of the articles do not comment on their own articles, providing additional insight or clarifying points raised by the readers who provide feedback by way of comments.
As a result, the discussions that occur on the comments sections of most traditional news sites tend to get out of hand. Bloggers, by virtue of the medium itself are accustomed to reigning in the situation before things gets out of control.
This process is called moderation. It involves actively steering the conversation away from the obscene or the irrational and in a worst case scenario, deleting comments from articles.
We laud the efforts to prevent the spread of hate speech, but this must not be done at the expense of our right to exercise freedom of expression responsibly. We feel that if there is adequate moderation of comments sections cases of hate speech can be dealt with on an individual basis. A distinction, however, must be placed between a blogger and a commenter. A commenter is not necessarily a blogger.
Therefore, a blanket condemnation of all bloggers is the wrong way to go.