Hate speech, fake news, misinformation and disinformation — how does civil society perceive and counter these threats towards democracy?

The European Project “Responsibility. Freedom of Expression” aims at identifying and promoting strategic approaches to tackle these challenges today and in the future. The Conference will bring together researchers, experts, activists and volunteers to review and discuss the state-of-the-art and the way forward to counter threats towards freedom of expression for NGOs, initiatives, and individuals.

Hate speech, fake news, intimidation and disinformation are major challenges in offline and online communication today. Restricting the freedom of expression to counteract is highly problematic from a legal and democratic point of view. Freedom of expression is a basic universal human right and central to democracies. It both protects and contains communication rights. At the same time, the European understanding of this freedom is connected to accountability. Art. 10(2) of the European Convention of Human Rights refers to “duties and responsibilities”. These norms should be understood as a desirable part of European culture and heritage.

However, they are increasingly getting under pressure. How does civil society perceive and counter these threats towards democracy?

The European Project “Responsibility. Freedom of Expression” aims at identifying and promoting strategic approaches that civil society can use in order to tackle challenges of threats while maintaining a democratic environment and respecting the freedom of speech. With this Conference, we acknowledge our civil responsibility to defend the freedom of speech.

The event will foster the constructive dialogue between stakeholders in order to build cross-expertise. Expert’s inputs and discussions will provide a comprehensive overview on recent threats emerging, counterstrategies for mitigating these threats and practical tools for civil society. Don’t miss the contributions of European experts; acquire new knowledge and establish useful contacts!

https://www.ngo.at/images/downloads/FreeEx_Conference_flyer.pdf

Team: Laura Ranca, Stefan Cibian

Departments: The International Center for Global Affairs and Postdevelopment (IC-GAP), Policy Analysis and Outreach Department

Project: Responsibility. Freedom of Expression

Regions: Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, Romania

Themes: Freedom of Expression, Human Rights, Civil Society, Democracy and Democratization