Tech giants to show how to use social media to discuss race, religion

To counter the threat of online radicalisation, technology giants Facebook, Google, Twitter and TikTok will be teaching religious and community organisations here how they can use social media to educate users on issues of race and religion.

Launched yesterday, the pilot project aims to equip the organisations with skills to broaden their online presence and facilitate sensitive discourse in the digital sphere. The tech companies will run three workshops from this month to August.

Participating religious organisations include the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis), the National Council of Churches of Singapore, the Taoist Federation, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore and the Hindu Endowments Board.

Announcing the initiative, Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Alvin Tan said that with more people going online during the pandemic, the challenge lies in managing divisive rhetoric on social media.

"While social media has the power to divide, it also has the power to unite. Our technology partners are working with us to positively influence online spaces so we can grow common ground in our community," he said.

Through the workshops, religious organisations will learn how to present educational information in a way that is relatable to young people, such as through Instagram stories or TikTok videos.

They will also be taught how to report extremist content to the platforms and facilitate candid discussions on race and religion through live streaming, for example.

Mr Abbas Ali Mohamed Anas, ambassador of youth-led interfaith initiative Roses of Peace, said the workshops come at a crucial time when more people are using social media to have difficult conversations on race and religion.

"Without proper guidance and information to navigate this digital space, we face the risk of online radicalisation and hate speech among our youth," he said. "We need to counter this worrying trend by facilitating conversations responsibly through messages of peace, love and harmony."

The initiative comes after a 16-year-old Christian Singaporean student and a 20-year-old Muslim former full-time national serviceman were recently detained under the Internal Security Act after separately planning attacks here. The self-radicalised youths had consumed violent materials online.

Ms Clara Koh, Facebook's head of public policy for Singapore and Asean, said during the programme's launch: "I would say emphatically that hate, intolerance and extremism are not what we want on Facebook. They have no place.

"We believe that positive speech can be a bulwark against destructive speech. That's why we're here to help community organisations amplify their calls to action and effectively build bridges in the online space."

Ms Teresa Tan, TikTok's head of public policy for Singapore and South-east Asia, said interfaith groups can rally the community to spot signs of radicalisation online.

"These are topics that can be presented in a short, relatable video so (young people) can be their eyes and ears on the ground," she said.