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Detest speech: Nations fight back

In response to this alarming trend, the UN team in Costa Rica began the roll out of its Action Plan upon Hate Speech and, within 2021, presented a milestone study on hate talk in Costa Rica. Allegra Baiocchi, the UN resident coordinator in Costa Rica, witnessed the particular unprecedented polarization of modern society, and the strong advance associated with populist and conservative agendas, which was accompanied by a sharp rise in hate speech, and expression of discrimination and xenophobia.

The landscape in the municipality of Acosta; Costa Rica which was populated 2000 years ago by indigenous groups and today by people who are dedicated to agriculture.
But after meeting with Meta, the owner of Facebook, they realized that, even though the company is investing in mediating and cleaning up conversations, the task is overwhelming, and that Meta is not able to protect or even limit everything that is submitted on its platforms.

Acosta; Costa Rica (file)

A study of hate

Maybe surprisingly, the sector of society that Transitions offers identified as particularly prone to disinformation, is its elderly citizens. This is because, according to Mr. Varuch, they feel excluded from society, spreading disinformation through chain emails or personal messages. The programme has now been so successful that is working all over the Czech Republic, as well as in neighbouring countries like Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. In order to counter the issue, Transitions retains workshops in public libraries, which are widely used by seniors. At these sessions, participants understand basic investigation methods, learning to look more closely at the source of the information they receive, and spread. One of the outcomes of the study in Costa Rica was your forming of a partnership with all the Lawyers Committee Association, who studied the legal plus judicial jurisdiction around detest speech which is evolving around the world. “They feel underserved, ” he asserts. “They feel that the topics that are important to them are not covered in the mainstream media. And all of these are very valid and relevant concerns. They use this information and hate speech like a kind of stick to beat the machine or the government, to make all of them listen to their concerns”. “Right now in Costa Rica, if you’ve been a victim of hate speech, you can go to this handbook and find out what is already available for you to protect yourself, ” explains Ms Baiocchi, adding that, in her view, the particular parliament has been a huge friend, passing a law focusing on protecting women in politics.

Children wearing “United Against Hate” t-shirts appear at an interfaith gathering at the Park East Synagogue in New York City in memory of Jewish worshipers who were killed in Pittsburgh in the United States. (31 October 2018)
Costa Rica is well known for its strong democracy, pro-human rights stance, and heavy respect of the rule associated with law, so it was a surprise when the 2018 general elections ushered in an unprecedented polarization of Costa Rican modern society.

Children in a interfaith gathering at the Park East Synagogue, New York (file)

Improved protection

Jaroslav Valuch, the news literacy and fact-checking project manager at the business, explains that Transitions facilitates good quality journalism, and works on media literacy with ignored groups to prevent conflict, and improve people’s resilience in order to disinformation hoaxes and dislike speech. UN Costa Rica/Danilo Mora You can sign up for our UN Podcasts series, UNiting Against Hate, here . Education and literacy is a cornerstone of the approach taken by the media advancement organization “Transitions”, which is based in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.

Listen, issue, learn

The group looked at which nations have the best kind of jurisprudence and helped create a guide covering the existing jurisprudence which will help victims. The Costa Rica study also looked over the dual role of the press, in relation to hate talk. “We’ve had cases in which the media have on one hand been the victims of dislike speech, for investigating cases or criticising the government, however have covered stories in a way that can incite discrimination plus hate speech. “The greatest goal is not necessarily to tell them not to spread phony news or distrust sources, ” says Mr. Varuch. “It’s rather to say ‘Hey, let’s enjoy some time together’. And, as a by-product, we make them more resilient towards disinformation and propaganda. ” A big problem, according the senior UN official, is that the digital room is considered a free space for those with no accountability. Initially, the team tried to increase liability, whether simply through the confirming of hate speech or even discrimination on the platforms them selves, or using whatever legal basis there is in different nations. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas “If we create people more resilient for this type of disinformation, we might have the ability to counter or prevent chaotic radicalization. The problem with institutions and the educational system, is that it takes a long time to change the particular curricula, to change the system. We all needed some interventions that might be implemented immediately. ” Ms. Baiocchi and her team realised that a lot of content was focused on women, particularly those in leadership positions; LGBTQ issues; as well as the migrant population. “When we started speaking to women and some people who had been targeted, they told us that they felt frightened, scared to express their opinions”, she says. “A lot of schools also teach debate and it is actually about how we can co-exist on earth with different opinions”, says Microsoft. Baiocchi. “I think that is fundamentally the message behind any work on hate speech and discrimination. This is about being able to respect each other plus coexist. ” “When all of us started working on this issue there were a lot of conversations about the protection of free speech, and countering hate speech and discrimination”, says Ms. Baiocchi. “We know that there’s a danger how the fight against hate speech can be used to restrict the freedom of expression, freedom of opinion”.

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