Ombudsman: There has been a rise in insult, hate speech, and intolerance in social media

Independent monitoring conducted by the Human Rights Defender prior to the December 9^th National Assembly snap elections testifies to the insult of dignity and hate speech and intolerance on the Internet and especially in the social media.

The targeted observation indicates that dissent is derived from intolerant attitudes, accompanied by aggressive responses, especially by improvised fraudulent users. Often the content or interpretation of the speech is taken into account, only taking into consideration the person’s opinion.

This situation also complicates the work of journalists, as the comments of social network users and especially vulnerable pseudo users contain insulting comments and notes addressed to reporters. The monitoring has recorded cases when social network users targeted the journalist who posted an interview or other material identifying with the author of the interviewer or other material.

From the point of view of human rights guarantees, the full protection of human dignity is important. Dignity is an inseparable basis of human rights and freedoms, indivisible from man.

In the described situation, the role of mass media is important.

Therefore, the Human Rights Defender urges all media to remove any comment that contains insult or hate speech, regardless of whether they are made by a seemingly false or actual user. We also urge you to keep up-to-date on the news, as well as the title selection.