Safer Internet and Hate Speech Online

29 January, 2014

In February the Hate Speech Watch will concentrate on the relation between Internet safety and hate speech content. We are exploring how hate speech content affects the safety of young people and children online. The Hate Speech Watch is collecting reports of online hate speech content that endangered young people or chlidren. If you find anything like that please report it. The online Activists of the Movement will select 3 of the reported cases and will organise online actions to raise awareness or to reduce the harm of that hate speech content.

What is the link between Safer Internet and No Hate Speech Movement?The Movement among its objectives is making the Internet a safer space for expression, as well as supporting young people to contribute to the good governance of the Internet. The Movement places an emphasis on education as a key process to make young people more aware of what the Internet can have as potential and also as risks. Human rights education applies to virtual space and is central to the campaign educational strategies. This is also where the idea of Safer Internet links with the Movement. The educational pack of the Campaign, Bookmarks, explores how young people can learn and act together for a better Internet as actors as well as users.In this respect, the slogan of Safer Internet Day in 2014, “Let’s create a better Internet together” corresponds fully to the objectives of Movement. A better Internet is for the Movement an Internet where human rights apply, where hate speech is not tolerated (users and Internet providers have the means to tackle it) and a space where young people can feel free and safe, just as they would in the offline world, to speak  their mind.The key messages of this Action Day are:“I make the Internet better by…” - the Internet is also what users do with it, so in this sense, we all have a responsibility to contribute to making it betterYoung people reflect on their use of the InternetYoung people reflect on how they could contribute to make the Internet saferYoung people understand that human rights apply also to the InternetObjectives of this European Action DayTo raise awareness about users’ responsibility and the possibility to contribute to a safer InternetTo promote the NHSM as a possibility for user to engage in processes that aim to make the Internet saferTo raise awareness about the role of education in supporting young people on the Internet to use this tool safely and also as a tool for participation and citizenshipTo raise awareness of the risk of hate speech, online and offline, threatening the safe and free enjoyment of  the InternetTo promote and experience the educational tools developed by the youth sector of the Council of Europe, Compass, Compasito and Bookmarks and share results online

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