Hate speech on social media nurtures the protracted conflict in Eastern D.R Congo

Hate speech has been a constant feature in the dynamics of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the last three decades. It primarily targets specific communities such as the Banyarwanda of North Kivu and Banyamulenge of South Kivu, whose citizenship, equal rights, and belonging have constantly been questioned. In their recent paper, Félix Mukwiza Ndahinda and Aggée Shyaka Mugabe examine the increasing role social media play in conflicts and mass violence from acting as a recruitment tool to triggering the emergence of shared online identities produced through socialisation within radical, extremist, or terrorist networks.