The FF Plus lodged a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission (HRC) today against a Twitter profile named @BLudidi – the identity of the profile owner is known to the party. This profile recently responded to a previous tweet by asking if white people cannot actually be killed (“Can’t we kill them for real”).
This kind of incitement to violence against an individual of any race, class, gender or sexual orientation is totally unacceptable.
Social media posts that relate to the coronavirus issue are strictly policed and carry heavy penalties of fines and even imprisonment. The time has come to deal with posts that are specifically aimed at inciting racial violence in the same way.
We live in a time of extreme uncertainty regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, the weakened economy, unemployment, poor political leadership in the government, racism and increasing tension in communities across the world. Thus, hate speech and incitement to violence cannot be tolerated.
The right to freedom of speech must be accompanied by responsibility.
The FF Plus has also reported the profile to Twitter and encourages other users to do the same.
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