(21 April 2020) – “Hate Speech: Understanding the phenomenon from different perspectives” is the theme of the first EPIC (European Platform of Integrating Cities) webinar to be held on 28 April at 3 pm CEST.

Numerous studies and surveys suggest that hate speech is on the rise, particularly on the internet and social media. Racist and xenophobic attitudes are progressively growing in Europe, often followed by laws and decrees that aim to normalise the hate speech, racism and discrimination, and risk the health of democracy in Europe.
The EPIC project – European Platform of Integrating Cities – addresses this problem – among others – with a series of webinars dedicated to counter negative narratives on migration.
The first webinar will, thus, provide an overview of the problem of hate speech and its use to attack individuals and groups (particularly focusing on migrants and refugees), looking at elements such as: assessment of hate speech cases, hate speech operation and distribution, hate speech vs. freedom of expression, etc.
Further, the webinar will also provide information and practices about various legal, educational and activist-oriented instruments to combat hate speech online and offline.