Peer to Peer: Challenging extremism

?The University of Namibia and the Maltas Club Namibia are some of the organisations around the country that have participated in the P2P programme since its inception in 2015.The P2P programme was established to respond to the proliferation of hateful and extremist content online. It aims to mobilise individuals to create and implement localised, community-based social media campaigns that challenge extremist rhetoric, while refocusing attention on positive alternatives.This concept is called counterspeech. “The challenge is an initiative designed to empower the very people affected most by hateful and extremist content on social media, especially young people, to be the catalysts for a student-led wave of counterspeech in response to the hate and extremism they see in their communities around the world,” says Wilfred April, the project coordinator. April tells The Zone that since Namibia is not particularly prone to extremism, the focus has shifted to target bullying and how to tackle it in schools. “As part of the #P2Pchallenge, students will create and activate their own local social media campaign, inspire positive action in the community, and explore solutions with the use of technology,” April explains. The target audiences are uncommitted populations that have formed no opinion about the hateful narrative, and civic-minded individuals who are interested in the public good but not necessarily focused on engaging in grassroots efforts to counter hate speech. “Demonstrating the campaign reached the desired audience and it is key to measuring a campaign's effectiveness. Long-term viability should be a part of your campaign's development process,” April says. Join the campaign by liking Maltas Club Namibia on Facebook.

Peer to Peer: Challenging extremism

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-25

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Peer to Peer: Challenging extremism

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-25

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