The Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies has organised two meetings with fact-checkers, journalists, NGOs and activists to address hate speech, disinformation and digital environments. These meetings are part of the European project HATEDEMICS: Hindering hate speech and disinformation through Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based technologies, which aims to strengthen preventive and reactive measures against hate speech and disinformation online. To this end, the project aims to empower NGOs/CSOs, fact-checkers, public authorities and youth to effectively prevent and combat polarisation, the spread of racist, xenophobic and intolerant discourses, as well as conspiracy theories, by adopting a perspective focused on multi-agency collaboration, artificial intelligence, social networks and youth, as well as comprehensive care for victims and affected communities.
The first meeting took place on 17 July from 12pm to 2pm at the Euro-Arab headquarters in Granada. The discussion group was made up of activists, representatives of civil society and NGOs with expertise in hate speech, disinformation and digital environments and new technologies. The debate was divided into several topics, on which each participant intervened and shared their experiences and knowledge from their area of expertise, such as the definition of ‘hate speech’, the current legislative framework or how political parties or civil society deal with hate speech, disinformation and conspiracy theories.
The second meeting took place on Wednesday, 24 July from 10 a.m. to 12 noon in an online format and brought together a group of journalists, information verifiers and a representative of law enforcement agencies to analyse the current challenges presented by the instrumentalisation of information for purposes that may represent hate crime and motivate conspiracy narratives. They also discussed the information verification tools they use, the legal framework for action and the resources available to combat hate speech and disinformation online.
The Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies is a non-profit institution that works to promote dialogue and cooperation between Euro-Arab societies. The Foundation develops research, training and awareness-raising projects in different areas of specialisation, with a special focus on the promotion of human rights, interculturality and peace. It is in this work that it participates in the HATEDEMICS project funded by the European Union and where it is responsible for the research work package, in charge of defining the approach, the socio-technical requirements and the methodology.
HATEDEMICS project website: https://hatedemics.eu/
