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CoE urges quicker response to hate speech

Xinhua, March 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

Public figures should respond faster to hate speech, the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe (CoE) said on Monday.

As Europe marked International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the CoE's Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) issued guidelines to all 47 members on how to prevent hate speech and support those targeted by it.

Among the recommendations, the ECRI said public figures should be encouraged to react quickly to hate speech, while states should consider withdrawing financial and other supports from political parties that actively use hate speech and criminalizing its most extreme manifestations.

According to ECRI, the most effective approach to tackling hate speech, in many instances, can be self-regulation by public and private institutions, including the media and the internet industry.

If necessary, examples of hate speech should be deleted from websites, and the identity of hate speech users exposed.

The body also suggested that an obligation on the part of the media to publish acknowledgments that something they ran constitutes hate speech might be required.

"Politicians, religious and community leaders also have crucial roles to play," said ECRI Chairman Christian Ahlund. "Not only should they avoid using hate speech in public discourse, they should also proactively counter it in their public statements." Enditem