Organized by the Council of Europe to B&H and the Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF), yesterday at the festival square the debate ‘Democracy Caffe’ was held.
The topic of this debate was hate speech on the Internet, and it was attended by the Head of the Council of Europe to B&H Mary Ann Hennessey.
A campaign is also underway that actively supports the Council of Europe, and which is particularly pertinent to the growing hate speech on the Internet.
The campaign started on 22 March 2013 and will last until the end of 2014. In this period, surveys on the prevalence of hate speech on the Internet will be carried out, and the formation of conclusions that should serve as a legal instrument in the fight against hate speech on the Internet.
Also, the debate was focused on youth and on their role in society.
Participants to the debate, representatives of various nonprofit organizations were interested in what youth could do when it comes to hate speech, and when B&H politicians use the same without any hesitation.
Hennessey said politicians are expected to not use fervent rhetoric and hate speech, but that, unfortunately, they do that regardless of warnings.
‘’Therefore, it is essential that we talk about ways in which youth could be part of the change’’, she said.
A collection of posters were presented during the debate “Draw me Democracy’’, which holds more than 450 artistic works by youth on democracy and elections and voting as an essential tool for youth.
