Facebook's parent firm Meta announced on Wednesday that it will be expanding its counterspeech initiatives, The Redirect Initiative, into Pakistan.
"As part of our ongoing efforts to fight violent extremism and organized hate, we’re announcing the expansion of one of our flagship counterspeech initiatives, The Redirect Initiative, into Pakistan and the UK," it said in a post on its website.
The development means that now when someone in Pakistan searches on Facebook using words "associated with organized hate or violent extremism, the top search result will be a link to resources and support for how to leave violence and extremism behind", added the post.
“We’re partnering with Shaoor Foundation in Pakistan,” it said.
Citing research, Meta said that challenging violent, extremist views with positive counterspeech is one of the most effective ways to combat hate and extremism.
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Counterspeech involves responding to hateful, extremist narratives with empathy and alternative perspectives, rather than shutting these conversations down. However, it is only effective if it comes from credible voices, said Meta.
“We are pleased to partner with Meta on the Redirect Initiative to help us scale our efforts and reach more people in need in Pakistan,” said Syed Ali Hameed, Executive Director at Shaoor Foundation.
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The Redirect Initiative is already available in Australia, the US, Germany and Indonesia.
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