The anti-rumour strategy. History has shown that processes of social polarisation and the increase of populism and xenophobic discourses, even if they do not amount to hate speech, can have very negative and even catastrophic consequences. Unfortunately, these processes are on the rise around the globe. Such narratives often hark back to an idealised past, and create barriers between “us” and “them”, defined in ethnic, national, cultural, economic, or religious terms.
The Antirumours Strategy is a long-term process of social change that seeks to prevent discrimination, improve coexistence, and harness the potential for diversity by triggering a change in perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours among the general population and specific target groups.
In order to reach these global goals, the antirumours strategy (ARS) focuses on three specific objectives:
