Monitoring and tackling hate speech in Syria

UNESCO supported the Syrian Center for Media (SCM) in building the capacity of the Syrian media community to identify hate speech and pilot self-regulation mechanisms to limit its diffusion. Activities organized throughout 2018 were aimed at creating a “Hate Speech and Incitement to Violence Observatory in Syrian Media”. These activities proceeded from the inception phase of the Observatory in 2017.

A workshop on hate speech concepts and terms was also organized in April 2018 with the aim of strengthening the capacity of 24 monitoring focal points consisting of senior media professionals and managers from media outlets that target a Syrian audience. The workshop introduced participants to a set of detailed concepts within the context of professional media monitoring, such as studying media expressions and linking them to their journalistic context, as well as scrutinizing their potential social implications including incitement to violence. The training was followed by three five-month pilot evaluations (April - August 2018) within the 24 participating media outlets.

It is planned that the findings from this monitoring period will be discussed with the media outlets in question during a later phase of the project.

A glossary of terminologies was also developed, encompassing 134 commonly used expressions in Syrian media (as identified during the monitoring period) across all affiliations. The findings of the monitoring period have informed the media work of the participants, and it is planned they will be discussed in a seminar with the aim to establish and institutionalise newsroom-based media self-regulation mechanisms.

Syria remains among the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists, with 103 killings of journalists since 2011 as per the UNESCO Observatory of killed journalists. Yet, the media targeting the Syrian public have witnessed important developments since 2011, including a boom of print, online, and audio-visual media. The growth of media pluralism and diversity has not been reflected in the professionalism of media actors, and tackling the use of hate speech and incitement of violence has been identified as a priority.

As part of the objectives of the “Hate Speech and Incitement to Violence Observatory in Syrian Media”, UNESCO and SCM seek to establish a broader partnership with Syrian media outlets and civil society organizations while building on previous experiences in war-torn contexts (ie. The Madrid Declaration).

The initiative is based on international human rights standards, including Article 19 and 20 of the ICCPR and the Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice issued and adopted by UNESCO’s 20th General Conference session on 27 November 1978, as well as the Rabat Plan of Action on the prohibition of advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.

This project was supported by the Multi-Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and the Safety of Journalists.