Gender based harmful speech in SL remains high, UN Sri Lanka says

Harmful speech increased by 113% in November 2024, coinciding with the Sri Lankan parliamentary election held on 14 November with the increase primarily driven by a 159% surge in gender-based harmful speech, the United Nations in Sri lanka said.

The UN’s latest Harmful Speech bulletin said that over 35% of all gender-based harmful speech recorded in November was targeted at women candidates campaigning for the parliamentary elections.

‘Harmful speech saw a 35% decrease in December following the conclusion of the November elections. However, gender-based harmful speech increased as a percentage against the total harmful content recorded, accounting for 66% of all harmful content recorded in December 2024, up from 55% in November,’ the Bulletin said.

It added that the responsiveness of Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok in removing reported harmful content increased in November 2024, following a sharp decline in October. However, the removal rates for all three platforms decreased in December.

In parallel to the overall decrease, the removal rate for gendered harmful speech decreased from 54% in November to 41% in December.

On the International Day for Countering Hate Speech, the UN in Sri Lanka launched the #UniteAgainstHate campaign to raise awareness about the dangerous impact of harmful speech and ways to combat it.

The campaign includes a focus on gender-based harmful speech. Forthcoming campaign material will focus on barriers that hinder the political participation of women in Sri Lanka.