“Countering hate speech, including on the Internet, remains a matter of urgency, and even more so in the context of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic”, underlined Jean-Paul Lehners, representative of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) to the new Council of Europe’s Steering Committee on Anti-discrimination, Diversity and Inclusion (CDADI), which holds its first meeting from 8 to 10 September 2020.

Mr Lehners recalled that General Policy Recommendation No. 15 is ECRI’s “gold standard” in the field of combating hate speech and that Council of Europe member states are struggling to address online hate speech. He remarked that there are many different approaches, but few have real impact.

“Because of our history, we – Europeans – have a duty of remembrance and vigilance obliging all of us to fight against any new rise of racism, discrimination and intolerance, in any form. Our basic human rights are at stake. The future of the societies we want to live in is at stake”, he concluded.

• Link to GPR 15
• Link to public statement of May 2020 on the impact of the Covid19 pandemic