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Symposium explores hate speech against migrants and refugees in the media

The Agency explained how its future media toolkit will strengthen rights awareness during a symposium on hate speech against migrants and refugees in the media on 26 January in Brussels.

The toolkit will support journalists through training and better access to information with a particular focus on practical and relevant examples and case studies. This will ensure journalism is embedded in an editorial culture that demonstrates awareness of human rights in the reporting of news and current affairs. The symposium, organised by European External Action Service and the UN Alliance of Civilisation, sought to create a collaborative response to address hate speech against refugees and migrants in the media, and a framework for innovative and positive initiatives.

The participants spoke of how low-quality, imbalanced journalism is on the rise, exploiting the anxieties and fears of the public while drowning out the voices of migrants and refugees. There were also discussions on how public tolerance to narratives of hate, echoed by the media, has provided legitimacy to defamatory statements by high officials and politicians.