Monitoring and Analysis of Hateful Language in South Africa Report #1.

As South Africans head to the polls for the 6th time since the introduction of multi-party, multiracial democracy, the country is grappling with yet another challenge: hateful language rooted in its long history of racial, social, and political tension.

PeaceTech Lab, in partnership with Media Monitoring Africa, is monitoring and analyzing hateful language trends throughout South Africa’s election period to offer insights on the potential relationship between this type of language on social media and instances of violence seen in municipalities country-wide. A series of six reports set to release twice a month, this data aims to support South Africans, NGOs, local governments, and social media companies as they work to build an effective and lasting response to hateful language in the context of the country’s contested election.