Call for No Hate speech

The Ministry of Youth and Sport and the National Youth Council of Moldova, together with other organizations, are launching the campaign “No Hate Speech”. In a news conference at IPN, the organizers said the campaign is aimed at raising awareness about hate speech online and its risks for democracy, the final goal being to diminish the phenomenon, IPN reports.

Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport Sergiu Stanciu said the “No Hate” initiative forms part of the international “No Hate Speech Movement” that is a Council of Europe project implemented since 2012. “We promote this message so that the young people who are concerned about the use of hate speech over the Internet become involved,” he stated.

According to the official, this campaign is not designed to limit the freedom of expression online. The year 2014 is an electoral one and the campaign is intended to prevent the consequences of hate messages.

Head of the organizational committee of “No Hate Speech” in Moldova Olga Batir said that the event will include workshops, seminars and conferences. Within a flashmob meeting on February 27, there will be improvised a big heart of Moldova. “We must show the people that we care and that we want and know how to respect ourselves,” she stated.

There will be also staged meetings with bloggers and journalists to try and indentify solutions and agree actions for eliminating hate messages. There will be launched the portal www.nohate.md and summed up the results to see how much this phenomenon decreased.

Ion Feldman, a member of the Nondiscrimination Committee, said the problem of instigation of hatred in Moldova is acute. That’s why everyone should become involved in this campaign. “If we take steps to thwart such messages, the world will be better and cleaner,” he added.

Moldova is taking part in this campaign alongside another 37 European countries. click