18/06/2024 Equality and Non-Discrimination
“In July 2021 the UN General Assembly proclaimed 18 June as the International Day for Countering Hate Speech and called on all relevant actors to increase their efforts to oppose hate speech, in line with international human rights law and principles,” said Fourat Ben Chikha (Belgium, SOC), PACE’s General Rapporteur on combating racism and intolerance, speaking at the opening of the Council of Europe’s No Hate Speech Week in Strasbourg.
“This Day gives us the opportunity to reflect on the growing magnitude of the phenomenon – a ‘tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating, stigmatisation and the use of derogatory, misogynistic, racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic or anti-Semitic language’, according to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres – and the need to urgently tackle it,” he added.
The Council of Europe has positively responded to the UN’s call and has created a No Hate Speech Week, where policy-makers, legislators and civil society representatives will meet and hold exchanges of view on how best to act against hate.
“The fight against hate speech must be a joint effort by all of these actors,” said Mr Ben Chikha. “They can all count on the unwavering political support of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance that I have the honour to co-ordinate.”