Brazil campaign is fighting racism online with unique billboards

Anti-racism campaigners in Brazil are driving home the message that offensive comments left on social media can cause real harm.

The campaign, ‘Virtual Racism, Real Consequences’ is targeting racist people on the Internet by putting their posts on giant billboards.

They use geo-tag tools to find out where the people who have posted the racist comments live, according to website.

Campaigners then put up a huge billboard near the location of the post, pointing out the offensive comment in huge letters.

“I arrived home smelling like black people,” reads one giant billboard in Brazil.

Though the name and picture of the offender are blurred out, the campaign hopes people will speak out and report racism, BBC reports.

Jurema Werneck, founder of the civil rights organization, Criola, is backing up the campaign and told BBC: “Those people [who post abuse online] think they can sit in the comfort of their homes and do whatever they want on the internet.”

“We don’t let that happen. They can’t hide from us, we will find them,” she said.

According the campaign’s website, Criola first began putting up signs when black Brazilian journalist Maria Julia Coutinho became a target of racist remarks on Facebook.

Ironically, the comments towards Coutinho were made on July 3rd, which is Brazil’s national day to fight against racial discrimination.

The campaign hopes people will start thinking before posting racist comments online in the future, because “the worst enemy of racism is silence.”