WhatsApp groups have become an integral part of life today. They are extremely helpful in communicating messages to like-minded people and communities, particularly family groups. And even better, with so many families and friends now living in different parts of the world, the platform is depended on for video calls and updates.
Obviously these groups require some rules, and good rules reflect the value’s of that group. WhatsApp itself confirms that rules “clarify which behaviours are encouraged and which are not tolerated. They also clearly state what actions will lead to a warning, removal, or report to WhatsApp.”
WhatsApp among a community of property owners, such as those in a sectional title complex, a street, or even a neighbourhood of streets, has been invaluable for communicating messages. Such messages can be warnings (eg: water shut-offs, criminal incidents and alerts), and even the more friendly ‘buy-and-sell’ advertisements. However, given we are dealing with communities, it is difficult to ensure that every member is aligned, and this often introduces conflict.
Some conflicts arise from misunderstanding the tone of a message, not being able to understand the sentiment, and others from purely aggressive responses. Bear in mind that not everyone has excellent communication skills, grammar and spelling, and this too, can lead to misinterpretation.
Incidents can spiral out of control quickly, which requires admin’s of WhatsApp groups to step in and mediate or, worst case, remove antagonist messages and block members.
Admins are depended to be objective and fair. Many may not even realise how difficult the role is to manage community groups, small or big, particularly when a negative situation garners the support of a mass of members who appear to be united in making an attack personal, and which could easily be considered hateful speech.
Admin’s roles are now set to become even more depended on for rigorous monitoring, given the passing of a new law in May, when President Ramaphosa agreed to the Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill, which outlaws offences of hate crimes and the offence of hate speech and the prosecution of persons who commit those offences. President Cyril Ramaphosa has assented, persons who commit those offences.
What is considered a hate crime?
The new Bill states that a hate crime is an offence where the offender is encouraged by prejudice towards a victim of a crime due to a specific or perceived characteristic. Such would be relative to race, gender, sex, including intersex, ethnic or social origin, religion, language, disability, HIV status, occupation or trade, nationality, disability, culture, and so on.
What is hate speech?
Hate speech is, says the Bill, the intentional publishing of anything that can incite or promote hate, and may be produced in any written, illustrated, visual display, utterance, representation or reference, or electronic communication. And those which may cause emotional harm. This has far-reaching impacts on social media channels and platforms.
Punishment
Any person who is convicted of a hate speech office will face imprisonment for up to five years, or a fine, or both.
Advice for admins:
In any community, you just don’t know who will find what offensive, and such statements can escalate very quickly into hate speech. Whats App communities now really have to start considering every aspect of the posting of even well-meaning jokes, or if the message being passed on could upset someone, and if it does, how will you react?
This is going to make admin’s roles quite intensive. The best advice is to remove any potential hate crime messages immediately, and advise the parties that they may or will be suspended from the group for a period of time. But this is only applicable if you have clearly communicated rules for group behaviour.
Always make sure that the rules of the community group are well advertised by posting those periodically on the group as a reminder, and that new members are informed of those rules.
