Iqra, Jade and Ella are all members of 'The Wall' Royal Holloway - an anti-hate speech campaign that seeks to break down hate speech with love speech. We caught up with them to find out more about the campaign itself and what their personal motivations behind setting it up are.
1. Can you tell us a bit about yourselves? What you study and what years you’re in?
Hi, I’m Iqra Bukhari. I was born here in London but I grew up in Dubai, and I’m a second year Digital Media and Communications student – so half computer science, half media arts.
Hello! My name is Jade Johnson, I am from Switzerland and Mozambique, and I’m currently in my third year studying Digital Media Communications.
Hi! I’m Ella Polat and I’m a third year studying BA Digital Media Communications. I am part British, part Turkish, and I grew up in Izmir, Turkey.
2. Can you tell us a bit more about The Wall campaign and what encouraged you to set it up?
We created this campaign as part of the Facebook Global Digital Challenge – a program that challenges different students and institutions to counter hate-speech online. ‘The Wall’ is an anti-hate speech campaign that seeks to break down hate speech with love speech. It is essentially a hub that links to different issues encountered daily; be it Islamophobia, racism, sexual harassment etc.
With the creation of this campaign, we hope to tackle issues that are occurring locally. Today, for example, there’s an increasing amount of hate-speech in regards to refugees, therefore this is an aspect that needs to be addressed.
3. What does the campaign mean to each of you?
Iqra - I’ve had to witness, if not experience a lot of hate, ignorance and unfair treatment. To me, ‘The Wall’ means working and interacting with people from different kinds of backgrounds to spread love and appreciation instead of hate and bigotry.
Jade - from my perspective, ‘The Wall’ campaign means uniting and working together with university students from all around the world, in order to combat extremism within issues that are encountered every day.
Ella - For me, this campaign is a way to bring people together, especially people who have not previously been able to speak up about their experiences around the matter of hate speech.
4. Could you describe each of your roles within ‘The Wall?’
Iqra - I’m the team leader for PR, so my main job is trying to raise awareness for our campaign and maximising our reach. I’m also one of the content creators.
Jade – I’m also working within the PR team in order to spread the message of our campaign and to reach a wider audience. I also work on the finance side of things and on our Facebook page.
Ella - I am one of the members on The Wall’s PR team; helping to spread our message to as many students as possible while also acting as the point of contact for anyone who would like to discuss the campaign with us.
5. What do you hope to achieve out of the campaign?
There’s so much animosity and negativity online, that we want to counter with ‘Love-Speech’. Hopefully by changing the narrative into something positive we can change the overall perceptions people have, ultimately helping to eliminate stereotypes.
We also want to raise a level of awareness that will help those that have experienced hate speech, which in turn will help people to realise the seriousness of the issue.
We hope that anyone that hears about the campaign will come and share any experiences they have had with us, so that we can show them that they are not alone in this fight against hate speech.
6. How do you balance your work within the campaign and your university work?
Iqra - Having a team of over 20 students has definitely made things a lot easier! But I also make sure that I’m always organised and plan everything out, which definitely helps me to balance out the workload.
Jade - I make sure that I always keep track of all my deadlines and schedule my time properly, which helps to ensure that I am putting equal efforts into all my assignments.
Ella - I make sure that I’ve always got enough time planned out for each assignment. I also try to incorporate aspects from my course into the campaign work that I’m doing.
7. What do you enjoy most about being a student at Royal Holloway?
Iqra - My degree! There aren’t many like it in the UK, and as it’s a relatively new subject the modules are extremely relevant. Plus the campus is stunning, which is a bonus.
Jade - The aspect I enjoy most is the fact that there are so many diverse students from various backgrounds, enabling you to make friends and learn more about different cultures and traditions. Also, the campus is beautiful.
Ella - I enjoy being able to pick something new to discover from the hundreds of societies and clubs we have here, and meeting a lot of new people from all around the world as I do.
8. You may have seen our latest recruitment campaign, ‘Find your why’. We are interested to find out what Royal Holloway has helped you to discover about yourself…
Iqra - As cliché as it sounds, I discovered that I can do anything I set my mind to. When I’m passionate about the work I’m doing, my goals seem easier to achieve. (Which includes waking up early for a 9AM!)
Jade - Royal Holloway has helped me discover that I need to work very hard in order to achieve my goals.
Ella - Royal Holloway has helped me discover that it is okay to be who I am, and that I don’t need to change myself to fit in!