An Update on Hate Speech

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Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

Workshop: An update on Hate Speech Part I Dominant Narratives Identifying Hate Speech

Part II Producing Counter Narratives Cancelling Hate Speech

by Evangelia Mika

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

“Language is the field of symbolic conflict between different social groups in a sense it is another weapon but also a battlefield in class warfare.”

Marxism and the philosophy of Language-Valentin N. Voloshinov (Valentin Nikolaevich Voloshinov a Russian linguist)

Language isn’t neutral. The words that the media, voters, and policymakers use can drastically change public opinion.

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

Part I Dominant Narratives Identifying Hate Speech

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

It is an explanation or story that is told in service of the dominant/ruling social group’s interests and ideologies. It usually achieves dominance through repetition and the silencing of alternative accounts.

Because dominant narratives are so normalized through their repetition and authority, they have the illusion of being objective and apolitical, when in fact they are neither.

Can you think of any dominant narratives? https://www.menti.com/e3d73fhbz5

▪ National origin ▪ Race ▪ ……..

Examples of dominant narratives

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

Dominant narratives leading to hate speech

hate speech •

leading to

public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, gendre or sexual orientation etc

hate crime is any form of crime targeting people because of their actual or perceived belonging to a particular group. The crimes can manifest in a variety of forms: physical and psychological intimidation, blackmail, property damage, aggression and violence, rape, and murder.

✓Can you think of any examples of the past?

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

Groups with common characteristics aimed at by hate speech

• ethnicity • colour • origin • religion • sexual preferences

• • • •

health status physical integrity gender and more..?

✓ Which do you think is the most typical ground for hate speech? https://www.menti.com/37826w59z2

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

Grounds of hatred (2019) in EU

https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/code_of_conduct_factsheet_7_web.pdf Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

More groups targeted by hate speech Types of shaming ➢to publicly humiliate or shame for being or doing something specified (usually used in combination)

• Fat shaming • Slut shaming • Bottom shaming • Age Shaming

• Homophobia • Transphobia • Racism • Addiction shaming • Identity Shaming

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

#Identifying hate speech

Results in Hate speech mainly involves

• Epithets • Slurs • Non verbal depictions • Pictures • Pornography • Symbols (Nazi swastika)

• promoting malicious stereotypes • inciting hatred or violence against a group • undermining the social equality of its victims • causing psychological harm physical harm • social marginalization • oppression

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

Cyber Hate is presented in two distinctive forms: ▪ in the pure ideological form

▪ in the personal concept towards a person for quite individual motives

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

• Cyberbullying : the electronic posting of mean-spirited messages about a person often done anonymously

https://vimeo.com/359094916 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpAg7RSx0ZU

➢ Sending mean texts phone calls, text messages or emails to someone ➢ Pranking someone’s cell phone ➢ Hacking into someone’s gaming or social networking profile ➢ Being rude or mean to someone in an online game ➢ Spreading secrets or rumours about people online ➢ Pretending to be someone else to spread hurtful messages online ➢ Harassing or threatening someone or sending mean messages through instant messages (IMs),

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

Here are examples of cyberbullying

https://youtu.be/BjLgCuvWiJk

• Posting private or embarrassing photos online or sending them to others • Starting a website that rates someone’s appearance or popularity • Verbally abusing other players in multiplayer online games, Internet-connected console games and virtual worlds • Creating fake Facebook or Twitter accounts that ridicule someone • Stealing someone’s password and impersonating them online • Spreading gossip, secrets or rumors about another person that will damage that person’s reputation • Engaging someone in instant messaging and tricking them into revealing personal information and then forwarding that information to others • Breaking into an email account and sending hurtful materials to others under an assumed identity • Creating blogs or websites that have stories, cartoons, pictures or jokes ridiculing others

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

Multiple forms of online hate Cyber harassment Cyber stalking Verbal, sexual, emotional or social abuse Gender-based harassment Undesired sexual attention Inducement for sexual contact • Extortion • Blackmail • Threats • Insults/slurs • • • • • •

Have you experienced cyberbullying yourself? https://www.menti.com/ih4nzbhvhk

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

Communication practices of hate speech

• • • • • • •

Advertisements Media Articles Films Songs Sports Books

In particular 1. articles from newspapers 2. pictures from advertisement context (i.e. commercials) 3. pictures from another context (mainly propaganda pictures) 4. advertisement videos 5. other videos 6. talk-shows 7. sequences of posts/discourses from social media.

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

RACIST AND XENOPHOBIC COMMUNICATION PROCESSES p.35

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Animalisation Banalisation Criminalisation Dehumanisation Demonisation Denigration Ethnisation Exclusion from citizenship Humiliation Infantilisation Intimidation Minimalisation

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Missionisation Militarisation Nationalisation Patronisation Physiognomisation Polarisation Racialisation Reification Religionisation Ridiculisation Sensationalisation Sexualisation Victimisation

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022 http://win.radar.communicationproject.eu/web/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/RADAR-Guidelines-EN.pdf

Humiliation Technique: describing burglars by nationality (as ALBANIANS) Procedure: reported in a newspaper headline Strategy: to create in the public opinion a stereotypical association between a given group of people, i.e. burglars, as being from a given country Example: from a Greek newspaper

Technique: Humiliation Procedure: Blog Strategy: Presenting Roma as being ridiculous and violent

“Cut off their state benefits! Serious riots among gypsies at the Courts-They smashed everything up”-Video

Technique: Animalisation Procedure: Social Media Account Strategy: Make a well known athlete look like an animal In order to degrade and humiliate him

On his Twitter account, the coordinator for Migrants’ Education referred to Giannis Antetokounpo as being a monkey playing basketball and as an !@#$$ ….

Technique: Procedure: Strategy:

“Illegal migrants looted Samos island”

Let’s repeat the question: ✓Can you think of any dominant narratives? https://www.menti.com/83wi6j9x4a

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

Part II Producing Counter Narratives Cancelling Hate Speech

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

Counter and alternative narratives-Cancel Hate Speech ●

Tools to change and undermine hateful or extremist narratives and reinforce human rights-based narratives. They do so by challenging negative stereotypes, by discrediting violent messages, for example, through humour or other methods to show that another interpretation of reality exists

“-You need to get on a diet bestie!

-I don’t want to!!! Thanks!!! You go ahead and be on a diet, girl!!!”

Counter and alternative narrativesCancel hate speech

A slut-shaming case Receives Huge Social Media Support

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

Cancelling racism

The Minister of Education fired the Coordinator of migrants’ education after his statements

Terms explained: To avoid and/or substitute certain terms

• Racist discrimination instead of racial discrimination (“race” and “racial” where the purposes of the term “race” is not to create divisions but to describe category, it should be avoided) • Migrant instead of immigrant • Undocumented migrant instead of Illegal/clandestine/irregular (im)migrant • LGBTQ(+) or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer instead of homosexual (The ‘+’ includes all other non hetero/cis normative identities not included within the LGBTQ acronym) • Inuit instead of Eskimo • Black/Asian/White people instead of Blacks/Asians/Whites/ Coloured people (people of colour is under dispute so better avoid it too) • Native American instead of Indian (Indian are the people from India) • Mixed heritage/Mixed parentage instead of Mixed Race http://win.radar.communicationproject.eu/RADAR-Guidelines https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2017/12/08/gay-or-homosexual-the-words-we-use-can-divide-public-opinion-on-civil-rights/

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

Terms explained: To avoid and/or substitute certain terms ●

●

●

“non-white” implies a hegemony of whiteness and that all other ethnicities revolve around it. It is highly problematic and it should be avoided. “coloured” is to be avoided in all contexts, as it is highly offensive in the UK and US English. Terms that are frequently used in the UK are BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) and BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) “foreigner” is not offensive in itself, but may be offensive if used in the wrong context (Nationality should preferably specified instead)

http://win.radar.communicationproject.eu/RADAR-Guidelines

Special Days Against

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

27 January: International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust 11 February: Safer Internet Day 8 March: Day against gender discrimination and sexism 21 March International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 8 April: World Roma Day 17 May: International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia 20 June: World Refugee Day 22 July: Day of solidarity towards victims of hate crimes 2 August: International Remembrance Day of the Roma Holocaust 21 September: Day against islamophobia and religious intolerance 9 November: Day against fascism and anti-Semitism 16 November: International Day for Tolerance 10 December: Day supporting Human Rights on the Internet 18 December: International Migrants’ Day

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022 https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass/discrimination-and-intolerance

Legal Framework-EU measures • EU and Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, YouTube presented in May 2016 the CODE OF CONDUCT ON COUNTERING ILLEGAL HATE SPEECH ONLINE • Framework Decision on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law • The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) (formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe.

Drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe, the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953. All Council of Europe member states are party to the Convention and new members are expected to ratify the convention at the earliest opportunity.

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights-ECHR Prohibition of Discrimination It contains a prohibition of discrimination. This prohibition is broad in some ways and narrow in others. It is broad in that it prohibits discrimination under a potentially unlimited number of grounds. While the article specifically prohibits discrimination based on "sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status", the last of these allows the court to extend to Article 14 protection to other grounds not specifically mentioned such as has been done regarding discrimination based on a person's sexual orientation.

At the same time, the article's protection is limited in that it only prohibits discrimination with respect to rights under the Convention. Thus, an applicant must prove discrimination in the enjoyment of a specific right that is guaranteed elsewhere in the Convention (e.g. discrimination based on sex – Article 14 – in the enjoyment of the right

to freedom of expression Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

Protocol_12_to_the_European_Convention_on_Human_Rights Protocol No. 12 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ETS No. 177) is an anti-discrimination treaty of the Council of Europe. It was adopted on November 4, 2000, in Rome and entered into force on April 1, 2005, after tenth ratification. As of 2017, it has been ratified by 20 States [1] (from 47 CoE member states).

Article 1 – General prohibition of discrimination. 1 The enjoyment of any right set

forth by law shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status. 2 No one shall be discriminated against by any public authority on any ground such as those

mentioned in paragraph 1.

Unlike Article 14 of the Convention itself, the prohibition of discrimination in Protocol 12 is not limited to enjoying only those rights provided by the Convention.

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

Chart of signatures and ratifications of Treaty 177

Status as of 21/10/2020 • GREECE HASN’T RATIFIED PROTOCOL 12 YET ✓ What about your countries? Have they ratified protocol 12 against discrimination?

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

actions-organisations-rallies combating hate speech http://www.nchr.gr/ https://www.ethnos.gr/politiki/23590_freno-sti-diadiktyaki-ritoriki-toy-misoys (Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube assess 89% of their content in 24 hours) https://www.safeline.gr/en/ https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur25/018/2013/en/ https://www.wikigender.org/ https://www.coe.int/en/web/youth/-/bookmarks-2020edition?fbclid=IwAR0JMUw1q3oVHVN6jb2fLpzGnrfad6MiO686zUdm1UyfmPWw14cfXiCQTxM https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass http://www.yre.org.uk/about.html https://www.eccar.info/sites/default/files/document/11_Toolkit-GR-HateSpeech.pdf Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

✓

Look for actions-organisations-rallies combating hate speech in your countries

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

Thanks for watching!

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022

Hate Speech Workshop by Evangelia Mika eUF4DC Edessa 2022