POLL | What action should be taken against users posting hate speech online?

Twitter user Nicole Barlow’s viral outburst insinuating she wished mineral resources and energy minister Gwede Mantashe could be assassinated like late SACP leader Chris Hani has sparked debate over what action should be taken against those who post hate speech online.

Commenting on a Sunday Times article about Mantashe snubbing a top-level green-energy meeting hosted by President Cyril Ramaphosa to attend a Cosatu event in Boksburg, Barlow said: “we missed an opportunity to do a Chris Hani on him”.

Hani was assassinated in 1993 at his home in Boksburg. 

Barlow removed the tweet after intense backlash, with some calling on the South African Human Rights Commission and police to take action over her comment. 

She acknowledged her comment was distasteful.

“I agree it is grossly hypocritical to criticise [EFF leader] Julius Malema for publicly inciting violence and promoting the killing of white farmers (Boers) only for me to do it as well. One should never fall into the trap of engaging with one’s enemy through cheap point-scoring and insults.

“I have spent 20 years fighting the ANC and the devastating affect their corruption has had on our environment, and for a split second I allowed my jaded perspective of them to cloud my judgment, and that was wrong.”

It follows similar outrage over offensive social media posts and comments that the human rights commission has been called on to investigate, including utterances from Penny Sparrow, Velaphi Khumalo, Adam Catzavelos, Belinda Magor, and others online.

While some called on those who post hate speech to be found, banned and prosecuted; others questioned whether perpetrators would be found on platforms where anonymity often breeds.

Barlow told TimesLIVE claims her comments were racist and an incitement of violence are “ludicrous”.

“If the police feel I have a case to answer for, they may email me and I shall respond accordingly.”

Barlow said her tweet did not meet the legal threshold of hate speech since the court ruled against AfriForum’s complaint against the EFF that the singing of Kill the Boer did not amount to hate speech or unfair discrimination.

Section 16 of the constitution protects the right to freedom of expression, however, section 36 prohibits hate speech.

The Film and Publications Amendment (FPA) Act also makes the intentional distribution of “hate speech” in any form, and on any medium, an offence.

Deputy communications and digital technologies minister Philly Mapulane said the act came as policymakers around the globe struggle with growing numbers of harmful content on social media.

In response to an increase in xenophobic content shared online, Twitter said last year its trained teams review and respond to reports and 50% of abusive content is “surfaced proactively for human review, instead of relying on reports from people using Twitter”.