Happy International Day for Countering Hate Speech, to all who celebrate. Wednesday, June 18th, apparently marked the third ever day against so-called hate speech, as well as the start of the Council of Europe’s No Hate Speech Week.
The theme of this year’s No Hate Speech Week is about as pithy and inspiring as you might imagine: “Enhance legal and non-legal measures against hate speech through a multi-stakeholder approach.” In practice, this means brainstorming the ways in which the European Union can keep control of the narrative, especially on social media.
Council of Europe chief Alain Berset made this clear when he opened the festivities with a speech in Strasbourg yesterday. “Hate speech is not an isolated issue,” he said, “but a part of a deeper challenge—to trust, to truth, to democracy itself.” This might be true according to the topsy-turvy definitions of Eurocratic newspeak. But in reality, free speech is a fundamental part of any democracy. The right for people to say whatever they like, no matter how crude, offensive, or hateful, is crucial for a society to remain open and free.
Berset also declared: “Hate begins with words but does not end there. The Council of Europe has been clear: hate speech and hate crime are not separate problems—they exist on a continuum.”
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