Marked for the first time in 2022, the UN International Day for Countering Hate Speech (18 June) is an important opportunity to raise awareness of the risks posed by hate speech to human rights, democracy and the rule of law and take collective action to implement the principles of the Council of Europe Recommendation on Combating Hate Speech.
To mark the 18 June as the International Day for Countering Hate Speech, a No Hate Speech Week was organised for the first time by the Council of Europe, between 17-20 June 2024. The event was put together 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. With the intention of building strong networks among key stakeholders involved in combating hate speech, the Week provided participants with networking spaces, including a project fair with poster exhibitions and informal discussions.
In this context, the Cyberviolence Resource, one of the online tools initiated through the Octopus Project of the Council of Europe’s Cybercrime Division, bringing together the work of colleagues from across sectors within the Organisation for the benefit of citizens and criminal justice authorities worldwide, was presented during the Networking fair.
Equally, each year since 2011, on the 22 July, the 77 lives tragically claimed in the Utøya massacre are honoured and remembered. The No Hate Speech Movement of the Council of Europe and its action against hate speech and hate crime online was inspired and dedicated to this tragic event. It is crucial to address the root causes of hate speech, raise awareness about its devastating consequences, and educate young people on how to counter it both online and offline. Raising awareness, promoting education, fostering intercultural dialogue, and utilising counter-speech are essential components of any strategy to prevent and combat hate speech, in addition to the reporting and the removing of online hate speech that reaches the threshold of criminal liability.
United Nations: International Day for Countering Hate Speech (18 June 2022)
Council of Europe: Countering hate speech through cooperation: the first ever No Hate Speech Week organised in Strasbourg (2024)
Council of Europe: Building Civil Society’s capacities to tackle hate speech online
Council of Europe: First Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime, concerning the criminalisation of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems (ETS No. 189)
Council of Europe: Cybercrime Division
Council of Europe: Octopus Project