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Having sent you our »save the date« in December, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) now officially invites you to participate in our digital conference “UNBOXING HATE SPEECH. European Impulses for Respect and Solidarity on the Web” on 17 and 18 February 2021.
The conference will be co-hosted by FES, the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection. It is taking place within the framework of Germany’s Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
Civil society all over Europe has gathered a lot of experience and expertise in combatting hate speech. Your organisation is one of the leading actors in your country. Your expertise and the lessons learned from your work in the field would be important contributions to our conference. We would therefore be honoured to welcome you as an active participant.
The conference will combine two consecutive events. Please register separately for them:
17 February 2021: Digital Expert Meeting of European Civil Society Representatives
On 17 February 2021 we will bring together selected civil society representatives from Germany and other member states of the Council of Europe in a digital closed-door expert meeting to address the following questions: What civil society initiatives and best practices against hate speech exist in the member states of the Council of Europe? What ideas are being pursued in further developing a Europe-wide strategy against hate speech?
The ideas and recommendations developed during this meeting will be presented to European policymakers the following day.
Please find attached the programme and more information on the event.
The working language of the event is English. Participation is by personal invitation only.
If you have not registered yet, you may do so here.
You will receive confirmation of participation and a dial-up link a few days before the event. Registration is open until 15 February 2021.
18 February 2021: Digital Public Conference
The public conference will bring together representatives from politics, civil society, academia, media and tech companies from Germany and other member states of the Council of Europe. Our aim is to discuss and develop impulses for the Council of Europe’s work against hate speech on the internet.
All information and the conference programme can be found on our Website.
The public programme will be streamed live in German and English. Registration is not required for this.
The workspaces in the afternoon are intended for a closed circle of experts. Participation in this case is by invitation only. The working language will be English.
We would be delighted if you could contribute your expertise to these expert debates. We therefore cordially invite you to take part in the workspaces. A description of the various workspaces can be found here.
Please register by 15 February 2021 at the latest for your chosen workspace via the relevant link. Please provide the name of your institution in the field »Additional address information«.
Workspace 1: Hate speech in political communication - Registration
Workspace 2: Hate speech as youth (anti)culture? - Registration
Workspace 3: Hate speech and local involvement - Registration
Workspace 4: Hate speech against marginalised groups - Registration
Workspace 5: Antifeminist hate speech on the internet - Registration
Places are limited. You will receive confirmation of participation and a dial-up link a few days before the event. The workspaces will take place via Zoom to ensure a protected framework for discussion.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact the conference team at unboxinghatespeech@fes.de at any time.
We look forward to welcoming you to the event.
With kind regards,
The Unboxing Hate Speech team
Conference attendees include Christine Lambrecht, Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection // Heiko Maas, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs // Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe // Michael Roth, Special Representative of the Federal Government for the German Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe // Louisa Dellert, influencer and businessperson, and many more.
