Persons caught spewing race hate, hostility on social media to face full brunt of law – President Ali

President Dr Irfaan Ali has warned that persons who are engaged in race-baiting or caught spewing racial hate and hostility will face the full brunt of the law.
On Friday, the Head of State said it deeply saddens him when he sees, almost every day on social media, the degree of race-baiting, racial hate and racial hostility which pervades the social media platforms.

As such, the President pointed out that he is determined to do everything within his power, and to use all the laws at his disposal, to put an end to this behaviour, which can only result in dividing the country and its people.
“The use of social media for the promotion of racial hate for political purpose is wholly unacceptable to me as your President and as a person, and my Government will not tolerate it. I have spoken with my Attorney General (Anil Nandlall) and I have directed him to ensure that the full force of our laws is employed and is applied to those who pursue this criminal behaviour,” he said in a statement.
President Ali went on to remind persons guilty of this abuse of social media that freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution, as a fundamental right and freedom, does not relate nor extend to hate speeches or other expressions, in whatever form, capable of exciting hostility or ill-will against any person or class of persons.
“I further remind that such conduct, publications and utterances constitute grievous criminal offences under the Racial Hostilities, Cybercrime and other similar penal legislation and the State will not hesitate to resort to these provisions in our laws in appropriate circumstances,” the Head of State further stressed in the missive.
According to Ali, as President of Guyana, he is “unequivocally committed” to governing the country and its people, regardless of political affiliation or ethnic origin and will do so without reservation.
In fact, he related similar sentiments to residents of Paradise/Belladrum, West Coast Berbice (WCB), during a visit to Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) on Friday.
The Head of State told the residents that he wants to work with every community, not only to foster development and improve residents’ lives but also to unify the country. This was after residents raised concerns over increasing inciteful comments on social media that foster division and which they view as “disgusting and distasteful,”   and which only serve to create tension in the communities.

President Ali reminded of his stance on this issue and pointed to his recent, public statement, condemning such acts.
He said, “I addressed racist statements on social media and I just came from other communities who have the same fear. If we all have the same fear then we should all work on the same solution. That is why I said in my statement that we will address very sternly, using all the laws, those who are using social media to spread hate, those who are using social media to spread racism and those who are using social media to divide us. That is why I also said, through the international Commission of Inquiry (CoI), we have to examine all these statements. It does not help you, it does not help me, it does not help the community, it does not help the country. That is why I am out here today, to tell you that as President, I am leading a Government that wants to work with everybody”.
President Ali’s meeting with the Paradise/Belladrum community followed his visit to the relatives of slain teenagers Haresh Singh and cousins Joel Henry and Isaiah Henry in Number Three Village, WCB, and the family of Prettipaul Hargobin, who was also killed during the protest action that erupted along the West Coast Berbice corridor.
Earlier in the week, the President had called on Guyanese not to use the horrific and gruesome deaths of the teenagers to divide or separate citizens. He had stressed that persons need to be conscious of the implications that their statements, comments and social media posts can have.
This came on the heels of inciting statements made by Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon and APNU Leader, former President David Granger, who have been heavily criticised over the past days for using the deaths of teenagers for political gain.
The murders of the Henry cousins, whose bodies were found on Sunday, had sparked widespread public outrage and resulted in residents along the West Coast Berbice corridor protesting for several days. However, those protests turned violent after persons began setting fire to debris on the roadways and attacking commuters attempting to pass.
Reports were made of persons being beaten and robbed while vehicles were burnt and destroyed, causing millions in losses. (G8)