Antivirus Programme: No to Internet Hate Speech!

Description

Hate speech is an infringement of human rights. In cyberspace it operates like a virus. It multiplies and spreads quickly. It attacks mostly representatives of minorities. Even though no one should be indifferent to hate speech, a passive response is the most common. How can we change this? The HIA PL Incubator of Ideas will inspire young leaders from Poland as part of an international group for seeking ideas on how others effectively counteract hate speech and how their experiences can be applied in Poland. An attractive “antivirus” campaign will be carried out in social media using innovative tools. It will be addressed to young people from the entire country. Some of them will become interested in the topic and will learn how to effectively prevent hate speech during a congress of cyberactivists and through participation in a contest for innovative activities preventing hate speech. The website www.uprzedzuprzedzenia.pl will serve as a bank of inspirations. Young people will learn that being active can be “cool.”

Summary of project results

"Every day, on the Polish Internet true loads of hate speech are posted towards different minorities. Surveys show that as much as 2.7% of posts by Internet users are tainted with hate speech. The aim of the project was to mobilise young people to react to hate speech encountered on the Internet. As a result of activities led under the project, a group of young people was sensitised to the problem of hate speech on the Internet which led them to develop specific tools for reacting to the negative phenomenon. Under the project, two educational programs were launched: one-month long international ""Idea incubator. Transformation, democracy and human rights"" for 24 activists from Poland, Germany, Ukraine and United States, and a three-day Congress Iner@ction Zone for over 200 cyber-activists, first such event in Poland. In addition to broadening their knowledge, they also developed a set of good practices and various strategies for reacting to hate speech using numerous tools (""anti-virus campaigns in social media, memos and graphics, educational films and workshops, a happening, drama techniques, songs etc.). To search for ideas on how to fight effectively hate speech, we also invited a broader group of young people, including school students - to this aim, a competition titled ""Pictures and words against hate speech"" was organised, and the best ideas were published in the ""Socially engaged calendar"". In addition, an e-learning course ""Stop the hate speech"" was developed. The project was crowned by launching a portal ""Prejudice prejudices"" at the address www.uprzedzuprzedzenia.org, containing a set of inspirations and good practices concerning preventing, counteracting and fighting hate speech, and creating a space for interactions between persons who want to join anti-hate activities. In the first weeks after launching the web page, it had over 625 thousand visits. Beneficiaries of the project were 230 young people who participated in the Idea Incubator and the Congress Inter@ction Zone, as well as several thousands of persons using the resources from the web page www.uprzedzuprzedzenia.org."

Summary of bilateral results