The Tech Shock Podcast - Sanjay Bhandari
This week Vicki and Geraldine are in conversation with Sanjay Bhandari, Chair of ‘Kick It Out’ – an organisation dedicated to eliminating hate speech and promoting inclusivity within sport.
Sanjay begins by describing the evolution of Kick It Out since its formation 30 years ago. Although their mission has always been to tackle discrimination, Sanjay explains that online abuse is now a particular focus. But what exactly is the relationship between the ‘timeline’ and the ‘touchline’?
He then asks whether we, as a society, are only really paying attention to those cases of abuse which are high-profile. Moreover, we may be familiar with hate speech on the pitch, terraces, or around the stadium, but what about at grassroots levels?
Given the often tribalistic nature of online communities, how can the language we are exposed to online impact the language we’re willing to use in person – in other words, how does hate become normalised? And how does offline abuse feed back into conduct on social media platforms, particularly during events like the FIFA World Cup?
Sanjay changes the conversation to tech companies, the recent takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk, and the consequences of ‘freedom of speech absolutism’. He poses the question: ‘is my right to not suffer discrimination really outweighed by the right for another to express their offensive viewpoints?’
Finally, the group discusses how sceptical we need to be of legislation and policies that are easily ‘frozen in time’. People, once their behaviours become moderated, find new and inventive ways of expressing hate and abuse. With this in mind, can we actually rely on the sorts of user-based filtering which the Online Safety Bill looks to emphasise?
You can listen to the episode via Plink, Spotify, Apple, or Google.