Submission on ‘Hate Speech, Social Media and Minorities’ to the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues

Defyhatenow and Rights for Peace were pleased to submit to the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Fernand de Varennes, for his call for inputs on #HateSpeech, #SocialMedia and #Minorities.

We highlighted several key areas, including:

• Legal, institutional and policy challenges to address online ‘hate speech’
• Good practices to strengthen the participation of persons belonging to minorities in the development of laws and policies dealing with hate speech and social media
• Examples of our trainings which build partnerships and capacity to address ‘hate speech’ against minorities specifically

We argue that there is a widespread need to increase understanding of prejudice and identity to build local resilience to bias, and reinforce the capacities of those who are able to speak out. Now more than ever, prevention is key.

Here is our submission: