Iamhere

Iamhere is an international, volunteer-led social movement focused on countering hate speech, dangerous speech, and misinformation on social media through coordinated but non-abusive participation. The movement began in Sweden in May 2016 as the Facebook group #jagärhär, Swedish for “I am here,” founded by Iranian-born journalist Mina Dennert. Its international umbrella organization is known as Iamhere international or I Am Here International and is headquartered in Sweden. Rather than attempting to win arguments with people posting hateful or misleading material, the movement primarily seeks to influence the wider audience reading a comment thread. Moderators identify news articles and discussions containing racism, Islamophobia, misogyny, anti-LGBTI rhetoric, climate-related disinformation, hostility toward First Nations peoples, or other forms of dangerous speech. These items are shared within an affiliated group as an “action.” Members then decide whether to add respectful, factual, and empathetic comments, or to support constructive comments already posted. Participants are encouraged to use their own perspectives and are not given a standardized script. The movement advises members not to engage directly with organized trolls, but to provide alternative viewpoints that make hate less dominant and help vulnerable readers interpret the discussion. Iamhere describes this approach as a civil-courage movement. Collective participation is intended to reduce the personal risk and emotional burden associated with speaking against online abuse alone. Members have nevertheless faced doxxing, threats, harassment, and attempts by organized troll networks to intimidate them. The movement’s model treats the comment section as a public environment in which silence can make hateful views appear more widely accepted than they are. Research cited in coverage of the movement has suggested that coordinated counter-speech can improve the rationality, civility, constructiveness, and politeness of online discussions, even when the absolute number of hateful comments does not fall. The Swedish group became the largest affiliate. By 2021, the network was reported to have more than 150,000 members across 16 or more affiliated groups in 19 countries, with approximately 10,000 actions initiated annually. Local groups use language-specific names, including #IchBinHier in Germany, #iosonoqui in Italy, JeSuisLà in France, and #iamhere India. The German group was founded by marketing consultant Hannes Ley and had approximately 45,000 members by 2019. Iamhere Canada was founded by Alena Helgeson. The movement has participated in cross-organizational initiatives, including a February 2020 Valentine's Day action with Stop Funding Hate against online hatred and extremism. It also attracted attention during the COVID-19 pandemic because misinformation and hostile narratives circulated widely online. In February 2021, representatives connected with the movement appeared at a World Health Organization webinar discussing the pandemic-related infodemic. Iamhere has been recognized by researchers, civil-society organizations, and media commentators as an example of organized online counter-speech. Facebook included I Am Here International in a 2021 “Courage Against Hate” case-study collection and described it as the world’s largest citizen-driven anti-online-hate movement. The movement has also received criticism and reservations common to coordinated online activism, including concerns that hashtagged interventions can be perceived as censorship, collective pressure, or sect-like behavior. Its stated objective, however, is to expand the range and quality of speech available to readers rather than to suppress lawful disagreement. The organization’s current scale, governance, and affiliate status beyond the documented 2021 period are not fully established in the available reference material.

Iamhere originated in Sweden in May 2016, when journalist Mina Dennert established the Facebook group #jagärhär. The name means “I am here” and expresses the movement’s basic premise: people who oppose hatred should make their presence visible rather than leave online spaces to the most aggressive voices. The original group developed into a structured form of collective counter-speech, with moderators identifying problematic discussions and members choosing whether to respond with factual, respectful, and empathetic comments. The movement expanded through national and language-specific affiliates. The German branch, #IchBinHier, was founded by Hannes Ley; other affiliates adopted names such as #iosonoqui in Italy and JeSuisLà in France. An international umbrella organization, Iamhere international, was established to connect the groups and support network development. By 2021, affiliated groups were reported across Europe, North America, Asia, and Australasia, with more than 150,000 members in total. Sweden remained the largest documented national group, while the German affiliate reportedly had around 45,000 members in 2019. Iamhere’s operating method is based on coordinated intervention rather than centralized messaging. Moderators monitor articles and comment sections, identify hate speech or misinformation, and post selected discussions inside the relevant group as actions. Members are free to write in their own words. They are encouraged to avoid personal attacks and unproductive exchanges with trolls, instead addressing the silent or undecided readers who may otherwise conclude that hateful claims represent the dominant public view. Hashtags help members locate and support one another’s comments. The network was estimated to initiate roughly 10,000 actions annually. The model developed in response to racism, Islamophobia, misogyny, anti-LGBTI hostility, attacks on climate activists, and other forms of dehumanizing or misleading discourse. It also became a way for volunteers to share the burden of online civic intervention. Individual counterspeakers can become targets of harassment, doxxing, threats, and emotional exhaustion; acting as part of a group can provide confidence and reduce the sense of isolation. The movement has acknowledged that coordinated participation can provoke organized troll armies and criticism that the groups act as censors or sects. One visible Swedish intervention in 2018 concerned public discussion surrounding lawyer Linnéa Claeson. The campaign was credited with shifting the tone of the conversation, and Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet subsequently began moderating comments on its posts. Dennert received the Anna Lindh Prize in 2017 for supporting just and democratic ideals, while the Swedish group also received an Integration of the Year award at the Faktum gala. The German affiliate won a Grimme Online Award in 2017 and a Deutscher Engagementpreis in 2019 in the democracy category. Academic and policy attention increased as online hate and disinformation became central concerns. A study of German actions on news articles concluded that the interventions improved average levels of rationality, civility, constructiveness, and politeness. Other research examined the movement as a netroots organization that must continually renew its presence on social media, and as an example of high-threshold online civic intervention. A 2020 study associated with the Dangerous Speech Project examined the psychological effects of collective counter-speech, including a possible contagion effect in which members’ courage encourages further participation. Iamhere also became involved in broader discussions of pandemic misinformation. In February 2021, representatives appeared at a WHO webinar on the COVID-19 infodemic. In June 2021, a European Union study listed I Am Here among successful initiatives addressing disinformation targeting ethnic, racial, and cultural minorities. The following month Facebook included the international organization in its Courage Against Hate series, describing it as the world’s largest citizen-driven anti-online-hate movement while also noting that counter-speech cannot replace broader responsibility from platforms, institutions, and civil society. Available references document the movement’s origins, structure, methods, affiliations, and recognition through 2022, but do not establish its present membership or detailed current governance.

• 2021

  Network reported to exceed 150,000 members

  [1]Iamhere (social movement)en.wikipedia.org

  Coverage described more than 150,000 members across affiliated groups in 19 countries.

• 2021

  WHO webinar participation

  [1]Iamhere (social movement)en.wikipedia.org

  Movement representatives participated in a WHO discussion of COVID-19 misinformation and the infodemic.

• 2021

  Included in Facebook’s Courage Against Hate series

  [1]Iamhere (social movement)en.wikipedia.org

  Facebook highlighted I Am Here International as a case study in citizen-led counter-speech.

• 2020

  Collaboration with Stop Funding Hate

  [1]Iamhere (social movement)en.wikipedia.org

  Iamhere joined a Valentine's Day counter-hate action organized with Stop Funding Hate.

• 2019

  German affiliate receives Deutscher Engagementpreis

  [1]Iamhere (social movement)en.wikipedia.org

  #IchBinHier won in the category for strengthening democracy.

• 2018

  Linnéa Claeson discussion campaign

  [1]Iamhere (social movement)en.wikipedia.org

  A Swedish action concerning lawyer Linnéa Claeson was associated with a more constructive discussion and subsequent comment moderation by Aftonbladet.

• 2017

  Dennert receives the Anna Lindh Prize

  [1]Iamhere (social movement)en.wikipedia.org

  Mina Dennert received the prize for supporting just and democratic ideals.

• 2017

  German affiliate wins Grimme Online Award

  [1]Iamhere (social movement)en.wikipedia.org

  #IchBinHier received a Grimme Online Award for its online civic work.

• 2016

  Swedish #jagärhär group founded

  [1]Iamhere (social movement)en.wikipedia.org

  Mina Dennert founded the Swedish Facebook group that became the origin of the Iamhere movement.

A civil-courage and online civic-intervention movement that promotes factual, constructive, and compassionate counter-speech against hate and misinformation.

• 2020Valentine's Day action with Stop Funding Hate

  International

  Iamhere collaborated with Stop Funding Hate on a public action opposing online hatred and extremism.

  Source
• 2018Linnéa Claeson discussion action

  Sweden

  Members intervened in online discussions concerning Swedish lawyer Linnéa Claeson, using coordinated factual and respectful counter-speech to challenge hostile commentary.

  Outcome. The conversation was reported to have shifted in tone, after which Aftonbladet began moderating comments on its posts.

  Source

1. 1Iamhere (social movement)en.wikipedia.org
2. 2Iamhere International official websiteiamhereinternational.com