The topic of the inter-professional seminar was the role of media and journalists in the prevention and reduction of hate speech in media content and the influence of hate speech to the public. The participants discussed how and why hate speech has become a mandatory part of media content in the world, what are its causes and consequences, on the issues of hate speech online, as well as international standards in this regard.

Council of Europe international expert, Jonathan price, presented on the practice of European courts regarding hate speech cases and how to implement it in domestic courts, while the local experts, representatives of judiciary, media, regulatory body and civil society, talked about the domestic case-law and the journalism practices.

This is one of the seminars that gathers together the legal professionals and the media actors of Bosnia and Herzegovina and enables the dialogue on the topics regarding the protection of freedom of expression. The seminar was organised in a hybrid manner, combining online and in-person participation, while respecting all safety measures in regards to COVID-19.

This workshop was organised in partnership with Association of Journalists of Bosnia and Herzegovina, within the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”, and its action on “Freedom of expression and freedom of the media in Bosnia and Herzegovina (JUFREX)”.