While social media, print journalism, and broadcast media are the conduits of building resilience against common challenges faced by people with different identities, these media formats are increasingly becoming the catalysts of polarizing echo chambers.

Learning comes into formation in the spaces created by conflicting viewpoints. But current social media architectures compartmentalize users into silently claustrophobic categories – there’s an undetected erasure in the autonomy of exposing oneself to a range of ideas.

The profits that come from appropriating short-term gratification are being prioritized at the damaging cost of invisibilizing thoughtful and thought-provoking content.

The ‘Coming Together Or Coming Apart’ report by Fund For Peace, analyzes resilience-building at the intersections of media and religion, by examining ‘group-based identity’ driven polarization in Eastern South America, the Indian subcontinent, and the Horn of Africa. 

To address the increasing polarization in these regions, the intersections of media and religion are explored through seven pillars of resilience: civic space, inclusion, social cohesion, state capacity, individual capabilities, environment, and economy.

“With 80% of the world’s population identifying with a religion, faith communities represent a powerful driver for transformation and change. Religion lies at the crux of individual and social identity and therefore is a key agent of connection or division,” the report states.

Faith co-exists within, and in conflict with tightening echo chambers, that become ecosystems of hate that flourishes across media against certain religious identities.

A combination of reframing conversations with the intent to reduce toxicity, and creating access to media literacy will be crucial to addressing the hate that stems from continuous streams of disinformation, uncontrollable misinformation, and increasingly violent extremism.