#Hate Speech
Germany: A draft law to counter hate speech would threaten freedom of expression
The German affiliates of the European Federation of Journalists, the Deutscher Journalisten-verband (DJV) and Dju in ver.di criticized the adoption of the Network Enforcement Law („Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz”) by the German Federal Cabinet on April 5, 2017, supposed to be adopted by the German Bundestag in the summer. Dju in ver.di issued a statement on April 5: “Even if we strongly reject the use of fake news and hate speech in social networks, in case of doubt, the deletion of such content is not the right response,” said Cornelia Haß, national director of dju in ver.di. “Freedom of expression and diversity of opinions are fundamental to our…
Russia: Sexist of the year 2016
Sexist of the year award ceremony took place in Moscow on March 10. The annual ceremony was initiated six years ago by Russian feminist group “Pro Feminism”. Blogger Natalia Bitten, the founder of the award, said that the aim of the ceremony is to combat hate speech and humiliation of women. Dozens of news-makers, politicians, religious leaders, journalists and academics have been nominated for five different awards this year. The news-portal Gazeta.ru and biologist Alexander Markov won the ‘Sexist in the Media” award for the article “It is beneficial for women to be illiterate”, where the scientist claimed that from…
Media Against Hate: meeting with the external evaluator
#SpreadNoHate: how to tackle hate speech against migrants and refugees?
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) was invited on 26 January to participate in the high-level debate “#SpreadNoHate: Hate Speech Against Migrants and Refugees in the Media” organised in Brussels by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the European External Action Service (EEAS). This event was aimed to better understand the mechanisms of hate speech against migrants and refugees as well as exploring new ways to improve the quality of media coverage, by promoting ethical journalism and fostering dialogue between journalists, institutions and organisations. EFJ General secretary Ricardo Gutiérrez moderated the panel on “Strengthening Partnerships between Media and Civil…
An indictment issued for hate crime following threats to CJA president Saša Leković
On 19 January, an indictment has been issued for hate crime against Ivan Goluban, arrested since November 2016, following threats by text message to CJA president Saša Leković. Goluban has been detained following his arrestation as the judge considered that he could potentially repeat the harassment against Leković. He is facing up to 5 years in jail. In October 2016, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) denounced the increase of hate speech and direct threats towards journalists in Croatia in an article explaining how Saša Leković escaped a serious road accident after his car appeared to have been tempered with.…
EU-UNAOC Symposium #SpreadNoHate: Hate Speech Against Migrants and Refugees in the Media
European Union / United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Symposium: #SpreadNoHate: Hate Speech Against Migrants and Refugees in the Media Thursday, 26 January 2017, 09:00 – 17:00, Brussels, Belgium (Hotel BLOOM! Rue Royale 250) @UNAOC @eu_eeas #SpreadNoHate Within the framework of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations’ (UNAOC) #SpreadNoHate initiative, UNAOC and the European Union (EU) will co-organise a one-day symposium in Brussels on 26 January 2017. Hate speech and incitement to hatred against migrants and refugees are on the rise across Europe. In a growing number of countries, anger and polarisation characterise domestic politics, and harsh measures targeting migrant…
Socialists and Democrats Seminar on European Radical Right
Meeting of the S&D Working Group on extremism, populism, nationalism and xenophobia with experts Draft Agenda 1. Outlook for the European radical right in 2017 and the Netherlands election preview Prof. Dr. Sarah L. de Lange, Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam Confirmed 2. Breitbart News and its plans of conquering the continent in 2017: strategies for destabilising far-right media Gerald Hensel, social media strategist, Berlin Confirmed 3. European Media and the rise of Right Wing Populists: counter strategies and responses Ricardo Gutiérrez, EFJ 4. Combatting racism and xenophobia in the EP – New Rules of Procedure Elizabeth Drury,…
Roularta Media Group stops comments on its websites
Roularta Media Group announced on 10 January in a press release the decision to block comments on articles published on its newspapers’ websites, “due to the disrespectful nature of the discussions”. The Belgian group publishes among others Le Vif/L’Express, Trends, Knack and Sport-Foot Magazine. “Our mission is not to moderate resentments, but to inform. In this new era, where fake news spread on social networks takes precedence over verified information, there is an urgent need for the press to get back to basics: informing while at the same time avoiding to ride the buzz wave”, wrote Le Vif editor-in-chief, Vincent…
RightsCon Brussels
Access Now is proud to bring you the sixth installment of RightsCon, the world’s leading event on the future of the internet. Together we are shaping the global conversation about how to keep the internet open, free, and secure.RightsCon Silicon Valley 2016,brought together more than 1,100 attendees from 84 countries and more than 500 organizations. This upcoming March in Brussels, Belgium we’re gathering the global digital rights community in the heart of European politics and policymaking to host our most impactful RightsCon yet. This year’s program themes will include: Freedom of Expression: circumvention, the latest in media and journalism, internet…
#Media Against Hate: EFJ launches a Europe-wide campaign to counter hate speech in the media
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has today launched together with partners ARTICLE 19, Media Diversity Institute (MDI), Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA), Cooperazione per lo Sviluppo dei Paesi Emergenti (COSPE), Community Media Institute (COMMIT), Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE) a Europe-wide campaign Media Against Hate, to counter hate speech and discrimation in the media. The media and journalists play a crucial role in influencing both policy-making and societal opinion on migration and refugees. As hate speech and stereotypes targeting migrants and refugees proliferate across Europe, balanced and fair media reporting is needed more than ever. Despite some good journalism practices…
Social media need “self-regulation, education and literacy, not new restrictions”, says Dunja Mijatović in a report
The Representative on Freedom of the Media of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Dunja Mijatović, published today her regular report to the Permanent Council from March 2016. She expressed great concerns about the safety of journalists and fake news on social media. Here are some excerpts. On the safety of journalists: As you all know, unfortunately safety of journalists continues to dominate my agenda. Impunity for killings, attacks and threats prevails. This must stop. In order to assist the participating States in monitoring progress on fighting impunity for killings of journalists my Office has prepared a…
Majority of EU citizens think media lack independence
The results of the 2016 Eurobarometer survey on “Media pluralism and independence” published today (17/11/16) – just in time with the EU Annual Colloqium on Fundamental rights on “Media pluralism and democracy” – show two worrying trends: a majority of EU citizens believe that the media in their countries lack independence ; and 75% of the respondents have experienced hate speech on social media. This survey aims at representing the state of media pluralism and independence across the European Union. The results highlight that, according to the Europeans, there is much work to be done in ensuring the independence of national media – a vital cornerstone of…
Refugees: how to change the negative narrative?
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Alliance Internationale de Journalistes (AIJ) successfully organised yesterday (4 October) a roundtable discussion on Refugees and Migrants, the inconvenient truths – Journalism against bias and stereotypes in Brussels. Migrants and refugees have suddenly jumped at the top of the agenda and media organisations play a crucial role in shaping the public opinion. How to cover the refugee crisis with more humanity? How best to communicate with media? Many journalists, NGOs representatives and intergouvernmental organisations (UNCHR, OIM) dealing with migration issues attended the event to reflect and build a constructive dialogue on these fondamental questions. The biggest requests @UNmigration…
Conference “Libertad de expresion, discurso y delitos de odio”
LIBERTAD DE EXPRESIÓN, DISCURSO Y DELITOS DE ODIO: UN DIÁLOGO ENTRE MEDIOS, SOCIEDAD CIVIL Y POLICÍA. Participan: Ricardo Gutiérrez – Federación Europea de Periodistas (EFJ). Secretario General. Aitor Larrea Negro – Jefe de Sección de Derechos de la Ciudadanía y Seguridad Pública. Secretaría General de la Ertzaintza. Anaitze Agirre Larreta – Observatorio de la Diversidad. Mugak – SOS Racismo. Edna Giménez Suárez – Proyecto TOGETHER! SOS Racismo Gipuzkoa. EU Project Together Fighting Against Hate Crimes mesaredonda11oct
PRISM Final Conference: “Words are Weapons: Strategies, policies and initiatives to fight against online hate speech in the EU”
WORDS ARE WEAPONS Strategies, policies and initiatives to fight against online hate speech in the EU 14th May, 2016 (9.00 – 13.30) City Hall of Pozzallo, Italy SYNOPSIS Many surveys, studies and reports show that in the Member States, continued and renewed physical or verbal attacks against minority groups and immigrants are considerably increasing, as marked by the latest reports of the Fundamental Rights Agency of the EU (FRA) on physical assaults, harassments or threats against immigrants or Roma people. Not only hate crime is increasing, but recent research show that hatemotivated violence is more and more often accompanied or…
Hungary: journalists should not heat animosity
On November 11, the Budapest Centre for the International Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities hosted a round-table on the role of journalists in preventing genocide and countering extremism at the Hungarian Institute of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The opening panel featured the keynote speech of András Trom, Head of Section of Foreign and Security Policy of the Association of Hungarian Journalists (MUOSZ), an EFJ affiliate. The Budapest Centre noted that “Trom pointed out the key role that journalists have in society, insofar as they are charged with reporting on events and thus mediating people’s understanding of reality. In this sense, the quality…
