Published: 9 May 2017
Country: Serbia
The Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans and the Serbian Youth Umbrella Organisation (KOMS) launched “Stop the Hate”, a new project aiming to enable young people to recognise, understand and combat online hate speech by developing meaningful and nonviolent counter-narratives.
The project relies on “Tips to Counter Hate Speech on Twitter”, a guide designed by MDI, aiming to help social media users to combat hate speech online in most simple and effective way. In the period May – September 2017, MDI and KOMS will organise trainings and educational workshops for young people and schoolchildren in Serbia, as well as conduct a social media campaign raising awareness about hate speech online.
The project Stop the Hate is supported by the Serbian Ministry of Youth and Sport. It will be a part of the national No Hate Speech Campaign.
The project intends to diminish effects of hate speech spread online by building capacities of young people to become peer educators and to further disseminate the knowledge. It also aims to combat hate speech by enhancing counter narratives. The project is a response to one of the major challenges in online communication such as growing intolerance and hate speech targeting vulnerable, minority groups based on differences related to ethnicity, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc. By creating counter narratives to identity-based hate speech, Stop the Hate project also contributes to culture of tolerance.
The project “Stop the Hate” is supported by the European Youth Foundation , a fund established in 1972 by the Council of Europe to provide financial and educational support for European youth activities.
