The World Association for Christian Communication – Europe Region (WACC Europe) is seeking experiences and case studies in dealing with hate speech on social media targeting refugees and migrants.
The one-year project – “Refugees and communications rights in Europe: breaking down the social media divides” – aims at understanding which strategies and tools work best to address hate speech on social media targeting refugees and migrants.
As part of the project, a survey has been developed for respondents to share their experiences with one hate speech.
The survey, which is open until 20 May, can be accessed at the following link: https://forms.gle/XScmYge3Fvtcp4WZA
Responses will be kept confidential.
WACC Europe advocates full access to information and communication, and promotes open and diverse media.
The focus on social media comes out of previous media monitoring conducted in seven European countries by WACC Europe and the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe. The results of this project – “Refugees Reporting” – revealed general patters of invisibility and misrepresentation and highlighted the need for direct inclusion of the voices and opinions of refugees and migrants in stories about them. See https://www.refugeesreporting.eu/report/
Stephen Brown, president of WACC Europe, said: “We do not just want to decry the extreme discourse and disinformation around migration that occurs in largely uncontrolled social media platforms, but also identify good practices and effective tools and strategies to combat hate speech online.”
The one-year project is running from December 2018 until November 2019. It is supported by the Otto per Mille Foundation of the Waldensian Church of Italy.
For more information, please contact Sara Speicher, ss@waccglobal.org
More information about WACC Europe: www.wacceurope.org
