Stop the Hate: Countering Hate Speech in Serbia

Country: Serbia

Timeframe: May- September 2017

Lead Partner: European Youth Foundation

Founder: European Youth Foundation

The Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans and the Serbian Youth Umbrella Organisation (KOMS) are starting the Stop the Hate project, which aims to enable young people to recognise, understand and combat online hate speech by developing meaningful and nonviolent counter-narratives.

The project intends to diminish effects of hate speech spread online by building capacities of young people to become peer educators and to further disseminate the knowledge. It also aims to combat hate speech by enhancing counter narratives. The project is a response to one of the major challenges in online communication such as growing intolerance and hate speech targeting vulnerable, minority groups based on differences related to ethnicity, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc. By creating counter narratives to identity-based hate speech, Stop the Hate project also contributes to culture of tolerance.

The project relies on “Tips to Counter Hate Speech on Twitter”, a guide designed by MDI. The guide aims to help social media users to combat hate speech online in most simple and effective way.

The project Stop the Hate is supported by the Serbian Ministry of Youth and Sport. It will be a part of the national No Hate Speech Campaign.

Key Activities:

• Translate “Tips to Counter Hate Speech on Twitter” to Serbian language
• Train 16 young people to build their capacities in recognising, combating and raising awareness about online hate speech and teach them how to transfer their knowledge to peers
• Organise educational workshops for schoolchildren across Serbia
• Conduct social media campaign to disseminate “Tips to Counter Hate Speech” guide and raise awareness about hate speech online