"Hate speech" is speech that harms in discriminatory ways. It is directed against individuals or groups who are susceptible to the harms of marginalisation in the context in which it occurs. It can be based on ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or other identified social groups. It has become increasingly prevalent since Covid-19, and involves all age groups, including – troublingly – young users of social media.

The webinar on 27 September 2024 will explore the nature, implications and effects of hate speech, and will consider ways in which we might try to cope with it as individuals or as social or professional organizations.

The speakers:

Distinguished Prof. Jean Burgess, QUT and Fellow, QAAS
A/Prof. Kath Gelber, UQ and Fellow, QAAS
Dr Nicole Shackleton, RMIT
Dr Bill Swannie, ACU
Moderator: Emeritus Prof. Roland (Roly) Sussex, UQ and Fellow, QAAS

There will be a facility to submit questions to the speakers during the webinar, and the whole session will be uploaded to the QUT Centre for Data Science website.

Our panel:

Distinguished Professor Jean Burgess, QUT: Hate speech and other harmful behaviour in the changing cultures of social media

Jean Burgess is Distinguished Professor of Digital Media in the School of Communication and Digital Media Research Centre at Queensland University of Technology, as well as Associate Director of the national ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. Her work focuses on the social aspects of digital media and AI technologies. She has undertaken major studies of the histories and cultures of the platforms that have come to dominate our public communication and everyday lives, including especially YouTube and Twitter, and more recently TikTok.

Professor Katharine Gelber, UQ: Hate Speech in the Public Sphere

Katharine Gelber is Associate Dean (Academic) in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Queensland, former Head of the School of Political Science and International Studies (2019-2023), and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences Australia. Her expertise is in freedom of speech and speech regulation, with research projects into the regulation of hate speech, especially online, and other allegedly harmful speech. Her recent publications include the jointly edited Free Speech in the Digital Age (Oxford U Press, 2019) with Susan Brison, as well as articles in the Journal of Public Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, Law and Society Review, Political Studies, Contemporary Political Theory, and the Australian Journal of Human Rights.

Dr Nicole Shackleton, RMIT: Gendered Hate Speech and the Law in Australia

Nicole is a socio-legal researcher focused on gender and sex, technology, and regulation. Using qualitative empirical research, she explores how gender and technology interact, and consequently how technologies may be regulated to reduce abuse and harassment. Her research aims to inform law reform to prevent online abuse, and the regulation of technology companies.

Dr Bill Swannie, Australian Catholic University: Anti-vilification laws - recent developments

Dr Swannie is a Lecturer in the Thomas More Law School at the Australian Catholic University. His areas of expertise include human rights law, anti-discrimination law, legal theory, media law and international law. He is a leading expert in free speech and vilification (hate speech) laws.

Moderator: Emeritus Professor Roland (Roly) Sussex, QAAS

Emeritus Professor Roland (Roly) Sussex (OAM, FQA, Chevalier des Palmes Académiques ) was Professor of Russian at The University of Melbourne (1977-1989), and Professor of Applied Language Studies at the University of Queensland (1989-2010). Since leaving The University of Queensland he has been researching intercultural communication and medical communication and pain. He has been presenting a weekly broadcast on language with ABC Radio for over 27 years. As a public intellectual he gives more than 50 talks on language and communication to community groups every year.