Social Media 4 Peace project marks first International Day against Hate Speech

Ten years after the launch of the UN Rabat Plan of Action on the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred, UNESCO has marked the first International Day for Countering Hate Speech on 18 June 2022. As part of the commemorations, UNESCO launched a new “countering hate speech” webpage compiling relevant resources and information on UNESCO programmes and projects including the Social Media 4 Peace project, funded by the European Union.

UNESCO Field Offices in the three beneficiary countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Indonesia and Kenya) organized a series of awareness-raising activities to mark this first celebration of the new International Day, at national level.

Workshop on ‘Hate Speech on social media organized in Bosnia and Herzegovina
A workshop entitled “Hate Speech on social media” was held at the UN House in Sarajevo with young participants of the project. The discussion highlighted the strong role of social networks and information and communication technologies in shaping socio-political reality, including their misuse as a tool to polarize society by manipulating and amplifying misinformation or increasing hate speech and intolerance.

Joining the workshop from his visit to the destroyed Partisan Cemetry in Mostar, Siniša Šešum, Head of the UNESCO Office in BiH, expressed his regret over acts of vandalism in the Cemetry, acts that have found resonance through hate speech circulating online.

The workshops organized on the occasion of the first day against Hate Speech were organized in cooperation with the marketing agency Republic from Sarajevo, and were intended for the non-governmental sector, students, as well as representatives of organizations, associations, and media in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Two social media competitions launched by UNESCO’s partner MAFINDO in Indonesia
In Indonesia, to mark the day, UNESCO’s partner MAFINDO, an organization which aims at fighting hoax in Indonesia, launched two social media competitions.

For the first digital contest, participants aged from 18 to 24 years old were asked to create and publish videos (short films, vlogs, music videos, parodies, documentaries…) with the hashtag #SocialMedia4Peace on one of the following themes: Peace and Unity, Diversity, Gender Equality and Responsible on Social Media.

The second competition invited participants who attended previous trainings organized by MAFINDO on how to enhance peace narratives on social media and Media and Information Literacy for youth to ‘Fact-check for Peace’. Results of the two competitions will be shared in July 2022: