Online promotion of activities and results of the project “Combating discrimination, online hate speech and toxic narratives in multicultural regions of Serbia “

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30 September 2020 the online promotion of the results of the project “Combating discrimination, online hate speech and toxic narratives in multicultural regions of Serbia” was held at 8:00 pm via the Zoom application. Of the European Union and the Council of Europe in the regions of southern and southeastern Serbia, southwestern Serbia and northern Serbia.

The project aimed to strengthen the capacity of young people and improve dialogue and activities to strengthen the resilience of communities to discrimination and hate speech, through the creation of a network of trainers in promoting and encouraging the fight against discrimination and hate speech on the Internet based on ethnic, national, religious or racial affiliation. The special emphasis of this intervention was on building trust among young people in a multicultural environment.

During the implementation of the project, 60 selected young people (20 from each region) attended a one-day online training for trainers, which was realized with the participation of local experts (lecturers) who are familiar with the local context of discrimination and hate speech. As part of the project, the participants of these trainings realized a total of 50 peer workshops, which were attended by over 350 young people.

In addition, within the project conducted research through anonymous questionnaires in which the project team sought to determine the existence of certain forms of hate speech and discrimination, patterns that appeared during the state of emergency and after the state of emergency, as well as young people’s perception of these phenomena in which over 300 young people participated.

When it comes to the results of research at the promotion, it was pointed out that:

– 30% of the total number of respondents pointed out that since the beginning of the crisis with COVID-19 they have felt offended, injured, or discriminated against by Internet content;

– 57% of the total number of respondents pointed out that during interactions on the Internet, they witnessed a situation in which someone else was insulted or harassed over the Internet on some grounds. Respondents who answered positively to this question pointed out that in 63% of cases it was a case of naming and calling a person derogatory names due to some specific characteristic, ie affiliation, in 22% of cases it was a threat of physical assault, in 17% of cases sexual harassment and 12% of cases of harassment in a longer period, ie persecution; When it comes to the affiliation on which this harassment was based, the respondents, who confirmed that they had witnessed this behavior on the Internet, pointed out that in about 40% of cases it was national or ethnic affiliation, then in about 37% of cases political affiliation, in about 37% of cases religious affiliation, in about 29% of cases sexual orientation and in about 17% sexual affiliation.

– 24% of the total number of respondents pointed out that they were victims of discrimination in their local community. Respondents who pointed out that they were victims of discrimination in their local community pointed out that in about 12% of cases this discrimination was based on political affiliation, then in about 11% of cases on national or ethnic affiliation, with support in about 7% of cases on religious affiliation, in about 5% of cases on the basis of gender, and to almost the same extent on the basis of age and in about 3% on the basis of gender identity.

– 13% of the total number of respondents pointed out that they were victims of hate speech in their local community. Respondents who pointed out that they were victims of hate speech in their local community, pointed out that in about 12% of cases the hate speech was based on religion, then in about 10% of cases on political affiliation, in about 8% on the basis of nationality/ethnicity and in 3% on a gender basis.

– 50% of respondents pointed out that the reaction of society and responsible state bodies to cases of discrimination and hate speech in their local communities is inadequate.

– Regarding group affiliation, according to which, in their opinion, hate speech is most pronounced in their local communities: 20% of respondents stated that it is a political affiliation, 20% that it is sexual orientation, 18% national or ethnic affiliation, 15% religious affiliation , and 10% gender affiliation.

– Regarding who, in their opinion, are the biggest drivers of hate speech, 55% of respondents said that they are politicians, 60% ordinary citizens, 55% media workers and 12% that they are representatives of religious communities.

The importance of this project has been recognized and financially supported by the European Union and the Council of Europe through their joint program “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022.” and a project within it entitled “Promotion of Diversity and Equality in Serbia”. Note: The views and opinions expressed in this text are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the European Union and the Council of Europe.