The No Hate Speech Week, 17-20 June 2024, aims to provide a space to exchange on recent legal and policy developments and good practices of implementation, innovations and foster synergies between key partners in field of combating hate speech. The presence of different stakeholders provides networking opportunities that can enable a comprehensive and multi-stakeholder approach to preventing and combating hate speech in the member states.

The No Hate Speech Week is organised around the International Day for Countering Hate Speech. In 2021, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution which recognises the need to counter discrimination, xenophobia and hate speech and calls on all relevant actors, including states, to increase their efforts to address this phenomenon, in line with international human rights law. The resolution proclaimed 18 June as the International Day for Countering Hate Speech.

The Week is organised by the Anti-discrimination Department in the framework of the EU-CoE joint project Building Civil Society’s capacities to tackle hate speech online and supported by the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of Europe.
 

Theme for 2024: “Speak human rights, counter hate speech”
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 (CSOs) operating on the ground must be ensured, in particular by collecting and sharing the tools and knowledge developed over the years.
 

Participants
The week gathered some 75 participants from various Council of Europe member states active on combating hate speech. The participants represent CSOs active at European and national levels, national authorities, Equality bodies and Ombudsoffices, academia, internet industry, elected officials, governmental representatives, and representatives working in the media, sports sector, and local or regional authorities.

Programme of the week
The 3-day conference aims to inform and facilitate peer-to-peer exchange of knowhow and practice and will therefore deploy a variety of methodological approaches, including plenary session, workshops and the networking fair.

Consult the programme in details on the following link in English or by navigating the tabs below. 
Consultez la programme en français ici. 
 

Monday, 17 June 2024


Arrival of participants

14.00   Registration at the Palais, Room 9

15:00  Introduction session for the participants of the No Hate Speech Week
17:00  Setting up the Fair of good practices and examples.
19:00  Dinner for the participants of the No Hate Speech Week
Tuesday, 18 June

8.30     Registration in front of Room 9
9:15     Welcome and technical announcements
9:30-10:30 Official opening of the No Hate Speech Week and marking the international day to counter hate speech.

10:30   Break (coffee & tea serves next to Room 10)
11:00   Developments and trends in combating hate speech through counter-narratives and education initiatives, expert inputs

12:00   Lunch break
14:00   Practical workshops in parallel - Setting common ground: (Room 9, Room 10, Room 14 and Room 16)
  • A1: Anti-Rumours workshop: Building a collaborative ecosystem: 10 years of anti-rumours  
  • A2: Introduction to Council of Europe standards and cooperation programmes on combating hate speech
  • A3: Monitoring hate speech online: developments and current trends
  • A4: Reporting hate speech
15:15   Break and switch rooms (coffee & tea serves next to Room 10)
15:45   Practical workshops in parallel – Measures against hate speech (Room 9, Room 10, Room 14, and Room 16)
  • B1: Anti-Rumours workshop: Rumours as the gateway to address hate speech
  • B2: Sport IS Respect: Combating hate speech in sports
  • B3: European LGBTQ+ Police Association (E.G.P.A.): bridge between police and society to fight hate speech
  • B4: Combating hate speech and disinformation within electoral processes
17:30   Award ceremony and Reception for Journalists promoting positive image of Roma
The programme of the award ceremony is available here.
 
Wednesday, 19 June 2024

9:15     Opening of the day in Palais, Room 9
9:30     Thematic Plenary on media and hate speech with the European Steering Committee on Media and Information Society (CDMSI) - more information here
11:00   Break (coffee & tea serves next to Room 10)
11:30   Practical workshops in parallel - Toolkit for action:
  • C1: Anti-Rumours workshop: From theory to practice: how to use the anti-rumours methodology in your daily life
  • C2: AI and Hate Speech in the Comments Section: Identification, Impact, and Solutions
  • C3: Discovering the power of Human Rights Education in contrasting Hate Speech
12:30   Lunch break

13:30   Practical workshops in parallel – Measures against hate speech (Room 9, Room 10, Room 14 and Room 16)
  • D1: Addressing hate speech in educational settings
  • D2: Hate as a business model
  • D3: AI for good – the European Observatory of Online Hate
  • D4: Feminism 2.0 to end sexist hate speech
14.45   Break and switch rooms (coffee & tea serves next to Room 10)
15:15   Practical workshops in parallel – Measures against hate speech (Room 9, Room 10, Room 14 and Room 16)
  • E1: Practices and lessons learnt on countering online hate against Roma and Travellers
  • E2: Sexuality Education under attack
  • E3: Counter Hate Speech: Engaging Local Communities
  • E4: Everyday Words, Everyday Change: Addressing Microracism in Our Speech
16:30   Networking space at the Fair of good practices and examples, in front of Hemicycle
            (Members of CDADI and CDMSI are invited)
Thursday, 20 June 2024

9:15     Opening of the day in Palais, Room 9
9:30     Practical Workshops in parallel - Cooperate against hate speech (Room 9, Room 10, Room 14 and Room 16)
  • F1: How can we best organise ourselves against hate speech across borders?
  • F2: Cooperate against Hate Speech: national networks and coalitions
  • F3: Counter-narratives as a tool for combating hate speech
10:45   Break (coffee & tea serves next to Room 10)
11:15   Networking space at the Fair of good practices and examples, in front of Hemicycle
12:00   Lunch break

13:30- 13:55   Thematic Plenary on promising practices on combating hate speech with the Steering Committee on Anti-Discrimination, Diversity and Inclusion, Room 9 - more information here
14:00-15:00    Interactive discussion in three sub-groups, Rooms 9,10, and 11
  1. Education, training and awareness raising.
  2. Online hate speech - Content moderation, take down, and working with trusted flaggers.
  3. Improving support for those targeted by hate speech.
15:00- 15:30   Closing plenary – taking stock of the Week, Room 9

16:00   Closing of the Fair of good practices.
            Departures


Workshops
The programme of the Week includes a variety of workshops on range of topics co-organised with civil society partners, Council of Europe services and international partners. The workshops aim to be practical and facilitate exchange of experiences, resources, and tools. Read more about the workshop content below.
 
Group A: Setting common ground
TIME: Tuesday, 14:00-15:15

A1: Anti-Rumours workshop: Building a collaborative ecosystem: 10 years of anti-rumours. ROOM 10
Presented by: Council of Europe’s Intercultural Inclusion Unit
Anti-rumours strategies seek to prevent discrimination, improve coexistence, and harness the potential of diversity by triggering a change in perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours among the general population and specific target groups. Join this session to find out how to build a collaborative ecosystem where public and private sector join forces bring about social change and foster inclusion.

A2: Introduction to Council of Europe standards and cooperation programmes on combating hate speech. ROOM 14
Presented by: Stefan Manevski, Hate Speech, Hate Crime and AI Unit, Anti-discrimination Department, Council of Europe
This workshop aims to introduce the CM/Rec(2022)16 on combating hate speech and discuss around the work of the Council of Europe in countering hate speech. It will be an interactive presentation showcasing some of the past flagship projects and initiatives and the hey tools and resources available for multipliers from civil society organisations.

A3: Monitoring hate speech online: developments and current trends. ROOM 9
Presented by: Adinde Schoorl, INACH (the Netherlands), Maryna Manchenko, CESIE (Italy)
In this workshop CESIE and INACH will review their experience in monitoring illegal hate speech online. They will address the influence of the Digital Service Act (DSA) so far on monitoring hate speech and the current trends they experience when it comes to content, removal rates, responsiveness from platforms etc.

A4: Reporting hate speech. ROOM 16
Presented by: Gunter Bressau, Jugendstiftung Baden-Württemberg (Germany), Jelena Grobenski, Human Rights House Zagreb (Croatia)
The session explores examples from the two organisations and opens a discussion on the reporting of hate speech and the role of civil society within this process. The Jugendstiftung Baden-Württemberg will present their REspect! reporting centre which reported 8500 of 25000 reports to the police. The organisation also manages a transnational reporting portal Report_Hate.
Human Rights House Zagreb will present their online tool DostaJeMrznje.org which serves as an intermediary between citizens and competent authorities where the citizens can report hate speech to.
Group B: Measures against hate speech (1st part)
TIME: Tuesday, 15:45-17:00    

B1: Anti-Rumours workshop: Rumours as the gateway to address hate speech ROOM 10
Presented by: Council of Europe’s Intercultural Inclusion Unit
The Anti-Rumours strategy does not primarily target the racists and xenophobes in our society but the majority of the population.  Can you, in all conscience, say you have never participated at one point or another in spreading a rumour? Join this session to find out how focusing on rumours can help you attracting the attention and including those people who often do not feel challenged or targeted by more explicit anti-racist messages. In this sense, rumours can be used as the starting point to address deeper issues like discrimination, racism, and hate speech.

B2: Hate speech in sports: Sport is respect ROOM 16
Presented by: Balint Josa, consultant with Council of Europe’s Sport Division.
The workshop introduces the "Combating Hate Speech in Sport" project, running from January 2022 to June 2024, which aims to provide technical assistance to public authorities and sport stakeholders in EU member states, developing comprehensive strategies and methods to combat hate speech within a human rights framework.
This workshop begins with an overview of the project, followed by collecting participant pledges for the Expression of Commitment. Participants will then analyse real-world examples of hate speech in sports, discussing their implications. Positive role models and their reactions to hate speech are highlighted, encouraging participants to emulate these behaviors. The session includes a roleplay activity, where participants simulate responses to hate speech from various stakeholder perspectives, including coaches, athletes, managers, media, and fans. Throughout the workshop, participants use their creative and critical thinking skills, aiming to foster a respectful and inclusive sports environment.

B3: European LGBTQ+ Police Association (E.G.P.A.) : bridge between police and society to fight hate speech ROOM 14
Presented by: Serafeim Agrafiotis European LGBTQ+ Police Association (Greece)
The workshop will present the actions of the EGPA: who they are, how they work, what actions have been taken so far to eliminate hate speech and racism. In addition, the participants will learn about the training followed by police officers in Europe and good practices will be presented. Finally, there will be space to exchange on possible future actions and guidelines on how to cooperate with law enforcement in fighting hate speech and discrimination.

B4: Combating hate speech and disinformation within electoral processes ROOM 9
Presented by: Uma Isic, Association of election officials (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Akaki Beridze, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (Georgia)
The workshop aims to inform participants on how to recognise and counter hate speech during election processes. It will provide concrete examples of cases on combating against hate speech and disinformation in election campaigns in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia. The workshop facilitators will also cover hate speech and sanctions in the electoral legislations of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia, including legislative, procedural and policy measures in the Bosnian and Georgian landscapes.
Group C: Toolkit for action
TIME: Wednesday, 11:30-12:20

C1: Anti-Rumours workshop: From theory to practice: how to use the anti-rumours methodology in your daily life ROOM 10
Presented by: Council of Europe’s Intercultural Inclusion Unit
Did you ever wonder how to react when faced with prejudices and stereotypes? Join this session to receive tips and be better prepared to counter rumours and prejudices in various daily life situations. You will also have the opportunity to get some tips on who to create alternative narratives and to discuss alliances and future work in network with other participants.

C2: AI and Hate Speech in the Comments Section: Identification, Impact, and Solutions ROOM 14
Presented by: Tomas Halasz, Trollwall (Slovakia)
In this workshop, participants will explore a unique analysis of millions of social media comments written before, during and after elections. We will analyse the prevalence and locations of hate speech, delve into the psychology driving it, and examine effective mitigation strategies. The session will highlight the role of AI in detecting and removing hateful content, addressing gaps where social media platforms are falling short.

C3: Discovering the power of Human Rights Education in contrasting Hate Speech ROOM 16
Presented by: Debora Barletta, No Hate Speech Movement (Italy)
The workshop is designed to equip participants with a basic understanding of Human Rights Education (HRE) and its role in addressing hate speech. It features an introduction to the main principles of HRE, non-formal education approaches and an overview of practical resources.
Group D: Measures against hate speech (2nd part)
TIME: Wednesday, 13:30-14:45

D1: Addressing hate speech in educational settings. ROOM 9
Presented by: Ljubisa Vrencev, Symbiosis (Greece)
The workshop provides information and recommendations on how better to frame, develop and implement education policies and practices to address hate speech, presenting the processes and findings of the “Butterfly Effect” project. This project was aiming at supporting youth facing hate incidents and structural discrimination; and amplified the impact of youth organisations in acting against racism and discrimination at national and European level. Discussion will be created around experiences in raising awareness amongst the school environment, activists, local authorities, youth organisations and journalists.

D2: Hate as a business model ROOM 10
Presented by: Jelle Postma, Justice for Prosperity (the Netherlands), Adinde Schoorl, INACH (the Netherlands)
The workshop explores conspiracy theories and their origin of hate, as well as, instrumentalization of fear from marginalised communities as business model. The workshop will analyse examples of hate speech narratives. It also includes some of the work of Justice for Prosperity and INACH on how they counter such hate speech narratives.

D3: AI for good – the European Observatory of Online Hate ROOM 14
Presented by: Lydia el-Khouri, Textgain (UK, the Netherlands)
This presentation will start with an overview of the annotation process which Textgain has developed to initiate the process of identifying hate speech with human intervention. It is followed by an explanation of the process of automatic detection of hate speech. Some of topics addressed include: human involvement in detecting hate speech, role of AI, uses of tech in countering hate speech and practical outputs from data gathered through AI.

D4: Feminism 2.0 to end sexist hate speech ROOM 16
Presented by: Rugile Butkeviciute, Ribologija (Lithuania)
“She is too bossy. I mean look at her, she dresses like a man, and what does she know about being a President? She doesn't even have a family and kids. Maybe start there, lady.” - remark about a presidential election candidate from a group of voters in Lithuania. The workshop will cover examples of sexist hate speech as a form of gender-based violence and practical ways to tackle this phenomenon through a feminist approach using social media. This workshop will also present a game of cards and social fairytales method aimed at the prevention of sexist hate speech among youth.
Group E: Measures against hate speech (3rd part)
TIME: Wednesday, 15:15-16:30

E1: Practices and lessons learnt on countering online hate against Roma and Travellers ROOM 16
Presented by: Andrea Spitalszky, Minority Rights Group Europe (Hungary) and Dominika Stuchlikova, Human rights institute (Slovakia)
The workshop will provide an insight into good practices and lessons learnt on combating online hate against Roma and Travellers in various countries, with a special focus on Slovakia. It will provide an opportunity for participants to learn about counter-narrative campaigns and hate speech monitoring.

E2: Sexuality Education under attack ROOM 14
Presented by: Maaike van Veen, Rutgers (the Netherlands), Artom Banissi, Justice for Prosperity (the Netherlands)
A slow erosion of rights and freedoms is done by ideologically, politically, or financially driven actors such as autocratic regimes, oligarchs, Christian ultra-conservative movements, and (far)right-populists politicians and extremists, resulting in increased polarisation in society and threatening the (liberal) democracy.
In this strategic-level session, hosts will use a case example for the audience to learn about actors, networks, and narratives targeting Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and gender issues in The Netherlands and beyond.

E3: Counter Hate Speech: Engaging Local Communities ROOM 9
Presented by: Paola Arcari, ADL Zavidovici (Italy), Federico Faloppa, Rete nazionale per il contrasto ai discorsi e ai fenomeni d'odio (Italy)
The purpose of this workshop is to examine efficient strategies to mobilise and build large coalitions at local level with multi-stakeholder groups against hate speech, through concrete and replicable good practices. Participants will be engaged in interactive discussions.

E4: Everyday Words, Everyday Change: Addressing Microracism in Our Speech ROOM 10
Presented by : Carla Alvarez, Consejo de la Juventud de la Comunidad de Madrid (Spain)
The workshop will explore the foundations of structural racism and its pervasive impact on society. Participants will learn about the nuances of language, with a focus on identifying and understanding microracisms—subtle, often unnoticed racial biases embedded in everyday speech. Through interactive exercises, the participants will practice deconstructing and transforming these biased language patterns to foster a more inclusive and respectful dialogue.
Group F: Cooperate against hate speech

TIME: Thursday, 9:30-10:45

F1: European networks and platforms against hate speech - How can we best organise ourselves against hate speech across borders? ROOM 10
Presented by: Martin Mlynar, No Hate Speech Network (Slovakia) and Eleni Kardamitsi, No Hate Speech Network (Greece)
This session presents the No Hate Speech Network, a European level network of activists and organisations created after the No Hate Speech Movement campaign. It opens a discussion on how civil society and activists can cooperate on European level and creates a space to exchange around the activities and initiatives of different European networks.

F2: Cooperate against Hate Speech: national networks and coalitions ROOM 16
Presented by: Federico Faloppa, Rete nazionale per il contrasto ai discorsi e ai fenomeni d'odio (Italy), Ilda Rodrigues, Instituto Português do Desporto e Juventude (Portugal) Jan Sisko, Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Forschung (Austria)
The purpose of this workshop is to discuss to what extent multistakeholder, and multilevel national coalitions can enhance and consolidate non-competitive collaboration across civil society organisations to prevent and combat Hate Speech. It will look at the main challenges and opportunities and best practice currently available in Europe.

F3: Counter-narratives as a tool for combating hate speech ROOM 9
Presented by: Claudio Tocchi, ICEI (Italy) and Eirik Rise, No Hate Speech Network (Norway)
In this workshop we develop a basic understanding of what are oppressive hate speech narratives and counter narratives are, and how they are shaped to trigger an emotional response. The workshop also includes sharing experiences from the contexts of the two trainers and their work on successful counter narratives. In the workshop, the participants will be introduced to the WeCAN toolkit as a practical resource to develop counter narratives.


Networking fair
The networking space includes a project fair and an exhibition of posters with specific tools and resources. In specific parts of the programme, the attendees of the No Hate Speech Week joined the fair for some informal discussion with different Council of Europe services, civil society organisation partners or other stakeholders.