Public-Private Partnerships in Content Moderation

Welcome to GDG Inspire’s newsletter, The StratComm Insights!

In this Insight Edition, we lent this space to Elliot Grainger, Strategic Communication Consultant, who introduces the concept of narrative defence to explain the limitations of traditional regulatory approach in online content moderation policies. 

Narrative Defence Against Hate Speech

Where We Stand, What We Need

The 2024 UK summer riots and the arrest of Telegram's Pavel Durov in France have highlighted the limitations of our current approach to combating hate speech and extremism. 

A decade of intensifying regulatory control has failed to address the root causes of these issues, focusing instead on platform accountability without effectively tackling the societal conditions that make people susceptible to extremist messages. 

This failure matters as we enter an age not just of extremism, but also a return of cognitive warfare within geopolitics. In response to these challenges, 

We need to shift our focus towards a more comprehensive strategy: narrative defence. 

This approach goes beyond content moderation or counter-narratives, encompassing a holistic strategic-communication effort to reinforce our society's core values and build resilience against extremist and hostile ideologies.

Narrative defence is therefore not about censorship nor propaganda. 

Rather, it's an active, multifaceted approach to promoting and protecting the principles of democracy, freedom of expression, and pluralism within our populations. 

Narrative defence incorporates various elements to create a more effective response to hate speech and extremism.

Narrative Defence, in Practice

At the heart of narrative defence is empowering citizens with resilience to these hostile narratives. This means equipping people with critical thinking skills to evaluate information, recognize manipulation tactics, and resist extremist viewpoints. 

This is happening, but is often a separate policy strand, based within under-18s education, and comes second to the demands for wider technical skills and knowledge; which can by default fail to address critical thinking and wider media literacy. 

Furthermore, this stops outside of formal education, and is not continued for those too old for education or who rejected education early on, now often the most vulnerable and susceptible to radicalisation and disinformation. By fostering media literacy and encouraging analytical thinking more widely within the population, in non-educational settings, we create a populace that's naturally more resilient to disinformation and divisive rhetoric.

Therefore, instead of merely countering extremist narratives, or promoting narratives in reaction, narrative defence actively promotes our shared democratic values. 

This involves creating and disseminating content that celebrates diversity, reinforces democratic principles, and highlights the benefits of an open, pluralistic society. Narrative defence needs to encourage open discourse and debate. 

Rather than silencing opposing voices, we need to create platforms for constructive dialogue, allowing for the scrutiny of ideas in the public sphere. This is a responsibility that needs to transcend government and civil society and be picked up by business and the workplace too - how do we help people in all walks of life better think about and tolerate opinions counter to our own. 

Furthermore, an integral part of narrative defence is providing resources and assistance to those affected by extremism and hate speech. This not only helps individuals recover but also demonstrates society's commitment to protecting its members, reinforcing the values we're defending. This approach helps to delegitimize extremist views through reasoned argument, and toleration of others, rather than censorship.

Importantly, rather than simply reacting to extremist content, narrative defence focuses on addressing the root causes of alienation and disenfranchisement against which hostile narratives resonate. 

This involves community outreach programs, social inclusion initiatives, and efforts to address economic disparities that can make individuals vulnerable to extremist narratives. 

In policy circles this is often not seen as strategic communication, and yet it is. 

The action to intervene to address these issues has a cognitive and social impact, ideally promoting inclusion and belonging, of being seen and heard, of having one's needs met. Failing to address these exacerbates these feelings of hostility against the status quo, the government, and wider society, which are then picked on and exacerbated by hostile narratives. 

To that end, narrative defence involves grassroots efforts to strengthen community bonds and promote local initiatives that embody our shared values. This helps create a sense of belonging and purpose that can counteract the appeal of extremist ideologies and hostile disinformation.

Why It Matters

By integrating these elements under the umbrella of narrative defence, we create a more robust and effective approach to combating hate speech and extremism. 

This strategy not only protects freedom of expression, but also actively reinforces the foundations of our democratic societies. It also inculcates a cohesive and holistic strategic communication approach. 

It moves the conversation on the use of “StratComm” from being campaign, and traditional focus on better communication, to a wider policy of narrative setting within our populations.

The positive of this is that much of this is happening, but often siloed, stiled, underfunded, unconnected and piecemeal. For example, in response to far-right populism in Europe, campaigns on tolerance and democracy have been undertaken. 

A narrative defence approach would go beyond simple alternative-messaging and campaigns on (worthy values of) tolerance and democracy. 

It would involve educational programs to improve critical thinking, research into the local factors driving extremist sympathies, community initiatives to address feelings of marginalisation, support services for those affected by hate speech, and campaigns celebrating democratic values and diversity. Collectively unified, with one objective.

The myth that liberal democratic values are universal and self-sustaining has been disproven. 

In an interconnected world where ideas can spread instantly across borders, we can no longer take these values for granted. Narrative defence represents a proactive stance in protecting and promoting the principles we believe in.

As we face evolving challenges in the digital age, narrative defence offers a path forward that goes beyond the limitations of increased regulatory control. 

By fostering a society that is resilient to disinformation and divisive rhetoric, we can more effectively combat hate speech and extremism while staying true to our democratic principles. 

The Expert

Elliot Grainger started working in political media operations, focusing on the engagement and public impact of policy initiatives and debate. Seeking deeper insights into public sentiment, Elliot joined YouGov Special Projects as the head of strategy, where he translated research into strategies that addressed societal challenges, a role that coincided with critical global events like the rise of ISIS in the Middle East. This experience catalyzed his move into strategic communication focused on prevention, working initially for the UK Home Office and the United Nations. Over the last eight years, Elliot has been an essential member to the European Union's strategic communication efforts, first with the European Strategic Communications Network (ESCN) and later as an expert adviser and communications manager for Radicalisation Awareness Network - RAN.

Ignite Your Inspiration

• The next big battlefield will be in our minds by William Hague

• Polarisation, violent extremism and resilience in Europe today: an analytical framework by Richard McNeil-Willson, Vivian Gerrand, Francesca Scrinzi and Anna Triandafyllidou

• Countering Terrorist Narratives: Assessing the Efficacy and Mechanisms of Change in Counter-narrative Strategies by S. L. Carthy and K. M. Sarma

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