The consortium of partners  for the “WE CAN for human rights speech” (WECAN4HRS) project held their first research meeting on 30 March-1 April 2020. Due to recent travel restrictions the meeting which was meant to held in Berlin was moved online.

The partners met with Berlin-based representatives of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube online  to discuss their research into how to identify situations most likely to generate waves of hate speech, and how timing and ways of engaging in counter and alternative narratives can increase their impact. The current and future impact of COVID-19 on online hate speech was also discussed. 

The WECAN4HRS project is co-ordinated by the Council of Europe  with partners (Active Watch (Romania), APICE (Italy), Neue Deutsche Medienmacher (Germany), CEJI (Belgium)). The project aims to help organisations and young activists fighting hate speech become more efficient by providing them with user friendly tools and training which will be developed through evidence-based research. The project will also update the “WE CAN!” manual which was prepared by the No Hate Speech Movement.

More information can be found on the project webpage.