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UNESCO partners with Aljazeera Balkans to address online hate speech
Through this partnership, AlJazeera Balkans is to create and air 10 episodes of a 25-minute television show to help youth of the region get a better understanding of how to identify hate speech and how to best counter it. The program will also emphasize the role of media as a powerful mean to counter online harmful content.
Al Jazeera Balkans, as a trusted and respected news outlet, is recognized as a global player with a local perspective in the Balkans. We are bringing together the region and providing viewers with an in-depth analysis of the stories and people that affect their lives. Our extensive examination and exploration of the context and backstories of the most important topics, together with our mission of ‘giving voice to the voiceless’, is a reason to team up with UNESCO on the project of countering disinformation and hate speech. Our background makes us a natural partner in UNESCO’s project of strengthening the resilience of societies to potentially harmful content spread online
The TV program, produced by the Current Affairs Department of Al Jazeera Balkans, will aim to inform young people about the real-life effects of harmful content they see online and the ways they can counter it, for instance through peaceful narratives. The first talk show programme will be aired on 17 May 2023 and then weekly, subsequently being posted online on social media platforms.
The format of the programme has been designed as a debate between a presenter and each week three expert guests who will provide insights on the challenges of hate speech, disinformation and conspiracy theories on social media. Young people of the region, the target group of these programmes, are among the most vulnerable groups when it comes to using social media and dealing with it, especially during times of rapid political and economic transition in the countries of the Western Balkans.
Siniša Šešum, Head of UNESCO Antenna Office in Sarajevo of Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, explained: “The dominance of social media has increased the speed and reach of disinformation, divisive narratives and hate speech, and their potential to do damage. Together with the EU, we are working on creating new and enlarging existing spaces for collaboration between social media platforms, civil society, authorities to ensure that potential harmful content online does not fuel tensions and violence. The combat against hate speech should be equally understood as individual and social responsibility as potential impact of hate speech could negatively tackle some of the highest value of humanity such as cultural, ethical and religious diversity, as well as freedom of expression.”
