It was just a meme – until it wasn’t: How hate gets normalised

MOST of us know someone who’s in a WhatsApp or Telegram group that regularly shares content that’s – let’s be honest – a little questionable. Maybe it’s your uncle forwarding a conspiracy video, a colleague dropping a misogynistic joke, or a friend scrolling through racist memes “just for the laughs”. And when you ask why they stay in those groups, the answer is almost always the same: “Oh, I’m not like them – I’m just curious.”

But that curiosity, multiplied across thousands of users who never speak up, creates exactly the kind of silence in which harmful content thrives. Everyone assumes they’re just there to observe. And so no one challenges what’s shared. No one says, “That’s not OK.” The silence grows louder, and gradually, it becomes the norm.