The first ever No Hate Speech Week organised by the Council of Europe has kicked off in Strasbourg today, on the International Day for Countering Hate Speech. The three-day conference offers a platform to discuss recent legal and policy developments, to share innovative practices, and to facilitate peer-to-peer exchanges in order to build strong networks.
“Speak human rights, counter hate speech!” is the umbrella theme of the conference. The use of counter speech and the promotion of a culture of human rights are key non-legal measures to prevent and combat hate speech. While reporting and the removing of online hate speech that reaches threshold of criminal liability is important, it is equally essential to address all forms of hate speech and address the societal challenges and its root causes through prevention, education and awareness-raising initiatives. To ensure effective and impactful activities in this area, support to civil society organisations operating on the ground must be ensured, in particular by collecting and sharing the tools and knowledge developed over the years.
The event was opened today by high-level representatives of the Council of Europe, European Commission, UN, and Lithuania as the Presidency of the CoE Committee of Ministers. The event is bringing together representatives of civil society organisations active at European and national levels, national authorities, Equality bodies and Ombuds offices, academia, internet industry, elected officials, governmental representatives, as well as workers of the media and sports sectors, and local or regional authorities representatives.
The No Hate Speech Week is organised in the framework of the CoE/EU Joint Project "Increasing Civil Society Organisations’ knowledge and capacities to tackle hate speech online" under the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers.
As part of the ‘Week’, an award ceremony will be organised under the joint EU/CoE programme Equality and Freedom from Discrimination for Roma (EQUIROM), to announce the winners of the “Journalism Excellence Awards - Ethical reporting on Roma and fight against racism and antigypsyism”.
Programme of the “No hate Speech Week"
