It won’t be overkill to call the Internet the innovation of the century – but that doesn’t mean that it is necessarily a charming place. The Internet, just like all the other things in this world, has its dark side, including haters, trolls, abusers, and also cybercriminals, just like how one would go and report abusive behavior to a cop in the actual world, the same can also be done on the Internet. Microsoft offers an initiative to make it easier for internet users to report such unruly behavior. But before that, we need to understand what exactly does hate speech constitutes and how we can report the same to the authorities.
What is Hate Speech
Hate speech in the online world is very similar to the real world except for the fact that the identities of the abuser might not be revealed. Hate speech attacks a group or an individual based on attributes like religion, sex, race, disability, and sexual orientation. A website that uses hate speech is commonly referred to as a hate site. If you find abuses hurled at you or a video trying to target a community, in general, it’s time you report the same. Extremist groups & Terror organizations have been leveraging this very hate speech to lure the people into their organizations. While most online services, including Twitter and Facebook, are fighting in unison to end this menace, it is far from over.
Report Hate Speech to Microsoft
Microsoft seems to have taken it upon itself to make the World Wide Web a better place. As a result, it has launched a new dedicated web form for complaints. Here is what Microsoft folks had to say about the new initiative.
“Microsoft is committed to creating safe online communities where our customers can learn, play, grow and interact without the threat of violence or hatred. That’s why for many years we’ve sought to protect our customers by prohibiting hate speech and removing such content from our hosted consumer services. While neither our principles nor our policies are changing, we are refining some of our processes to make it easier for customers to report hate speech. We’re also simplifying requests to reinstate content that customers feel was removed in error”
Microsoft already has a solid guideline for taking down hate speech. In all likelihood, the company is just fine-tuning the entire process and making it more efficient. Further, Microsoft says it will retain the “notice and takedown” approach for removing prohibited content found on hosted consumer services.
However, all content you may find offensive or consider hate speech will be reviewed thoroughly before it is removed from the website.
You need to fill in this web form with all the details asked for and try to be as contextual as possible. Once the request is sent, it will be queued for review, and the findings will be communicated via e-mail.
So it’s time for netizens to sweep the Internet clean of hate speeches and inflammatory content.
