The Council of Europe’s Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)16 on Combating Hate Speech, served as a basis for a panel discussion during the Conference ‘Protecting Democracy from Online Disinformation & Hate’ held on 24 February 2023 in Berlin.

The panellists reflecting on the way forward of content moderation after the adoption of the Digital Services Act emphasised the importance of comprehensive approach to combating hate speech. The removal of hate speech online that is liable under criminal, civil and administrative law should be complemented with non - legal measures to address hate speech “in the grey zone”. Such measures are human rights education, media literacy, monitoring of hate speech that can inform national policies, campaigns, and concrete support to those targeted by hate. 

The Conference was organised by the European Observatory of Online Hate (EOOH) and Textgain.