TietoEVRY: The Polite Type

Over a third of bullying today takes place online, with the number rapidly increasing (UNESCO). As online learning and virtual classrooms are becoming the new norm, cyberbullying is a big issue for the youth. The Polite Type is a font that has been taught to recognise and rewrite hate speech. In practice, the font automatically blurs hateful words or replaces them with more inclusive ones. TietoEVRY, the company behind this initiative, wants to promote online equality and raise discussion about ways to stop cyberbullying. At launch, the beta version of The Polite Type covers nearly two-thousand words in English and can be freely downloaded and installed on any computer. The font has been created together with Finnish teenagers. As an open-source font, it can be further developed by any individual developer or organisation. The creative partner behind the idea is TBWA Helsinki. The project was carried out together with The Children & Youth Foundation in Finland and the digital studio Great Apes. The first to introduce The Polite Type as a resource for teachers and pupils is HEI Schools, a global network of early education centers based on the Finnish educational model. The designer behind the font design is Mika Melvas.