Responding to Hate Speech Against Migrants in Media

Background: The media plays an important role in shaping people and policy makers' opinion of immigrants.Many people know about the issue of immigration through the media report or the political leaders speeches .Our attitudes, opinions and concepts on immigration issues are mostly influenced by the media perspective. Numerous studies have shown that media around the world have adopted a negative attitude towards immigration issues. Problem: Regardless of whether it is traditional media or new media, the current report coverage of immigration issues mostly involves the negative aspects of immigration. Some media reports regard the immigration issue as "law and order" or security issues. Some media believe that asylum seekers and refugees are “disguised” or linked to terrorist threats. Some political leaders around the world are now linking immigrants to the threat of violent extremism. Reason: One of the reasons is the lack of filtering information on new media and social networks, leading to a lack of regulation of bias and hate speech toward immigrants. Another reason is that more and more anti-immigration parties have made new progress in some countries. Right-wing populists from around the world are using anti-immigrant sentiment to divert attention from the government's failure to provide decent work to citizens. They use immigrants as scapegoats, accusing immigrants of being a cause of lack of work and economic recession. Correspondingly, negative and even hostile reports on immigrants have increased with the rise of anti-immigrant parties and their political rhetoric. Suggestion: People should reflect on how media and news are “built” and “produced”. Condemn the politicians’ harmful comments and hate speech on immigrants, and raise public awareness of the fundamental rights of immigrants and refugee to foster citizens’ inclusive emotions.