When a society allows that to happen without setting boundaries, the baseline for what's normal completely breaks. Things that would have made people gasp in horror five years ago suddenly become "just another debate."
Once hate speech is normalized it’s no longer just an internet problem. It becomes a green light. It signals to the most unstable people in society that the targeted group is unprotected, and that’s exactly when the typing stops and the violence, vandalism, and hate crimes start.
History has shown us how this movie ends, and it’s always ugly. The machete killings in Rwanda didnst just happen: first the radio hosts turned Rwandans into "cockroaches" until everyone yawned. Thanks to unchecked, viral hate campaigns on Facebook the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar was kicked into overdrive. Genocide never starts with violence. It begins with average citizens at home watching as their compassion slowly desensitizes, comment by post, share by retweet and slur behind screen. So how do we put that "mental brake" back into our own heads, especially when the online world so easily erodes it? The most crucial part is to simply catch yourself.
The second you see a post that makes your blood boil, lock your phone, look away, and take a deep breath for 5 seconds. That forces your brain out of that instant dopamine trap.
And before you hit send now ask yourself, would I say this exact phrase in person to that individual face-to-face and yes even with my mom or bestie in the same room. If the answer is no, remove it.
The outrage machine that is the internet has no bottom. And if you allow it to consume, it'll gnaw on your own humanity. Rather than ever thinking it was important to have that 2 seconds of pleasure from trashing someone over the internet, put the phone down and do something real.
It’s way better for your own sanity.
