HATE SPEECH AND SECURITY CHALLENGES IN NIGERIA: THE 2011-2019 ELECTORAL VIOLENCE IN PERSPECTIVE
Keywords:
Hate speech, Security challenges, Human rights, Freedom of speechAbstract
Hate speech - verbal or written - on persons or groups based on shared attributes such as ethnicity, race, religion, political beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, or disability, hinders peacebuilding, development, and peaceful co-existence among diverse groups in (not limited to democratic) societies. This paper examined the effects of hate speech on security challenges in Nigeria. The paper is anchored on structural-functional theory to provide theoretical orientation to the paper. The methodology of the paper is content analysis (i.e. rely on secondary data) from which analysis was made and a conclusion drawn. The paper concluded that Hate speech publicly incites violence against individuals or groups of people. It has exacerbated the security challenges and worsened the situation of peaceful co-existence in Nigeria. The paper recommends criminal sanctions should be used as a measure of last resort and, all along, a balance must be kept between fighting hate speech on the one hand and safeguarding freedom of speech on the other.
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