Strasbourg, 30 October 2015
Call for Expressions of Interest
Mapping of national report systems on hate speech incidents
As part of the renewed No Hate Speech Movement campaign, the Council of Europe is preparing a
list of reporting mechanisms existing in the member States to report or denounces:
- Hate speech, online or offline
- Cyberbullying
- Hate crimes.
The ultimate purpose of this list is to provide potential targets or victims of such incidents with
information about how to report, denounce or react. This information will be available in the
Internet platform of the European campaign and, especially, in the Internet presence of national
campaigns. In addition to this practical purpose, the preparation of the list may also be an
opportunity for an initial analysis of the reporting mechanisms available across the member States of
the Council of Europe.
The task
The Council of Europe is looking for consultant/s to carry out a mapping study covering potentially
all the member States of the Council of Europe, plus Belarus, Canada, Mexico and Morocco (as
countries where the campaign is also being implemented).
For each country, the study should include the mechanisms or procedures for reporting or
denouncing hate speech, cyberbullying and hate crime, including:
- Reporting to law enforcement agencies, regulatory or interprofessional bodies
- Helplines and hotlines, including advisory or counselling bodies
- Reporting on social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, V Kontakt and other social
media popular in the country concerned.
In carrying out the study, the consultant/s may call upon the network of national coordinators and
activists of the campaigns for information and support. They may also use already existing
information and invite for input from other experts at their own initiative and responsibility (e.g.
members of the European Commission against racism and Intolerance or similar nationally-based
bodies or organisations.
The appended document (Mapping for reporting mechanisms) provides a closer insight and
examples of what the task implies.
Deliverables
The consultant/s should deliver the following products:
-
-
A list/table of the mechanisms and procedures in each country for each of the areas
identified above, including, where relevant, hyperlinks and hotline numbers, as well as a
short description/presentation of the general situation in the country – a first draft is to be
delivered by 31 December 2015, with the final draft for 15 February 2016.
A summary analysis of the situation across Europe and of the possible implication this
could/should have for the campaign, to be submitted by 31 January 2016.
All deliverables should be provided in English (UK); the names and addresses of the mechanisms
should be reproduced in the languages that they are available.
Competences required
- Good knowledge of hate speech and cyberbullying
- Familiar with reporting mechanisms, including judicial ones
- Experience with online social media and the mechanisms set to moderate, react to, report or
flag hate speech
- Familiar with the No Hate Speech Movement campaign
- Research and analytical skills
- Very good writing skills in English
- Preferably knowledgeable on law and regulations pertaining to freedom of expression and
media.
Multilingualism will be particularly useful and valued.
Contract
The consultant/s will be proposed two contracts: one for the work to be carried out in 2015 and the
second for the work to be delivered in 2016.
Further information: rui.gomes@coe.int
Procedure for expressions of interest
Expressions of interest must be communicated by using the appended form together with a recent
CV and samples of any previous similar or relevant work. Joint expressions of interest (i.e. by 2 or
more people) should be presented as a single proposal.
Deadline for expressions of interest: 15 November 2015.
Form for expression of interest
Call
Mapping of national report systems on hate speech incident
Name/s
Emails:
Telephone/s:
Person responsible for
the proposal
Languages covered
1. Please provide details1 about the competences and experiences of the consultant/s
on
a) Hate speech and cyberbullying
b) Reporting mechanisms, including judicial ones
c) Online social media and the mechanisms set to moderate, react to, report or flag hate speech
d) The No Hate Speech Movement campaign
e) Research and analytical skills
f) Law and regulations pertaining to freedom of expression and media.
2. Please provide details about the methodology and timetable envisaged to carry out
the mapping study
3. Your estimation of the total number of days required for this work
4. Any Additional information and comments relevant to the assessment of your
application:
Deadline: 15 November 2015
Form to be returned to: dys.trainers.pool@coe.int
Please add a recent CV.
1
details on similar publications, links to Internet sites or previous work are welcome
Appendix
Mapping for reporting mechanisms
Introduction
This paper outlines how the Youth Department of the Council of Europe expects to conduct
research mapping of the various reporting mechanisms available to young people to report
incidents of hate speech, cyberhate, cyberbullying and (online) hate crime, within the
framework of the No Hate Speech campaign, in accompaniment with its Hate Speech Watch
online tool2.
This is important for the future of the campaign which will itself continue until the end of
2017 in the framework of the Council of Europe Plan of Action on the fight against violent
extremism and radicalisation leading to terrorism.
It is also a call for experts who can contribute to the production of information about
reporting mechanisms available to young people in different national contexts.
The UK will be used as an example in this paper for various reporting mechanisms available.
Methodology
In order to map the various mechanisms in which young people can report hate speech, hate
speech online (cyberhate) and cyberbullying.
Firstly the working group needs to set out clear definitions of what is meant by hate speech,
cyberhate, cyberbullying and hate crime.
Secondly, various mechanisms to deal with these hate incidences need to be identified; one
can react in different ways depending on the severity of the action and the national, legal
context.
Thirdly, a mapping of general and national-specific reporting mechanisms need to be
identified, related to the various different kinds of hateful acts (whether it is considered
criminal, is a bullying action etc.)
Definitions3
Hate speech
‘The term "hate speech" shall be understood as covering all forms of expression
which spread, incite, promote or justify racial hatred, xenophobia, anti‐Semitism or
other forms of hatred based on intolerance, including: intolerance expressed by
aggressive nationalism and ethnocentrism, discrimination and hostility against
minorities, migrants and people of immigrant origin.’
Appendix to RECOMMENDATION No. R (97) 20 of the Committee of Ministers on
“Hate Speech"2
broad definition is taken as a starting point.
Hate speech online (cyberhate)
2
Found online here: http://www.nohatespeechmovement.org/hate-speech-watch
Source
used:
https://www.coe.int/t/dg4/youth/Source/Training/Training_courses/2012_Mapping_projects_against_Hate_S
peech.pdf
3
Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime3
Article 2.1 For the purposes of this Protocol:
"racist and xenophobic material" means any written material, any image or any other
representation of ideas or theories, which advocates, promotes or incites hatred,
discrimination or violence, against any individual or group of individuals, based on
race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, as well as religion if used as a
pretext for any of these factors.
The Council of Europe’s Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime is
concerned only with hate speech which is racist or xenophobic and there are
numerous instances of hate directed towards other groups, so we have included
instances which ‘promote or incite hatred, discrimination, or violence’ against such
groups as well.
For example based upon sex, sexual orientation, disability etc.
Cyber bullying
“Cyberbullying is related to, but is different from, Cyberhate. In a school context,
cyberbullying means any electronic communication including, but not limited to, one
shown to be motivated by a student's actual or perceived race, colour, religion,
national origin, ancestry or ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical, mental, emotional,
or learning disability, gender, gender identity and expression, or other distinguishing
personal characteristic, or based on association with any person identified above,
when the written, verbal or physical act or electronic communication is intended to:
(i) Physically harm a student or damage the student's property; or
(ii) Substantially interfere with a student's educational opportunities; or
(iii) Be so severe, persistent, or pervasive that it creates an intimidating or
threatening educational environment; or
iv) Substantially disrupt the orderly operation of the school.
Responding to Cyberhate, Toolkit for Action (ADL)
(Online) Hate crime
Hate crimes are criminal acts committed with a bias motive5. Every hate crime has
two elements.
1) The act committed is considred a criminal offence under ordinary criminal law.
2) The offender intentionally chose a target with a protected characteristic. A
protected characteristic is a characteristic shared by a group, such as “race”,
language, religion, ethnicity, nationality or any other similar common factor6
Crime Laws: A Practical Guide, (Warsaw: ODIHR, 2009), p. 167
Identifying the various strategies4
Criminal complaint
4
Source
used :
https://www.coe.int/t/dg4/youth/Source/Training/Training_courses/2012_Mapping_projects_against_Hate_S
peech.pdf
Criminal complaint is the appropriate course of action when dealing with cases that:
 Extensive material on hate sites;
 Repeated action by an individual or a group;
 If the activity of an organised group;
 Or if is directly threatening and provides evidence towards illegality
Notification of offensive content to administrator
If the domain where such content is hosted is national, the procedure is simple - after
finding the contact address, just write an email giving them all relevant information. It
is essential to restate the quote, provide a link to the place where it is and refer to the
part of their legislation or terms of service that was breached.
To find the contact:
1. open http://whois.domaintools.com/
2. In the search field on the page, write the name of the website
3. The results should show who the domain registrar is, who are the operators, their
contacts, etc.
In the case of foreign domains follow the procedure described in the next section.
Reporting content to ISPs
If the website administrator does not respond, you can contact the provider - the
company which provides space on their servers for websites hosting such
objectionable content. In most cases however, administrators fulfil requests for
content removal if it is illegal.
Foreign domains
1. open a page with service whois: http://whois.domaintools.com/
2. find who is the registrar and where a particular page is hosted
3. If the registrar of domain is a real person, this information is very important for
possible criminal prosecution as well as the next steps.
4. Given that registrars often prefer to protect their anonymity, they use companies
that register domains instead of them. Therefore sometimes it is impossible to
ascertain the individual registrar that way.
5. Regardless of whether you managed to find a domain registrar or not, you need to
check whether the provider’s rules contain references to the nature of content, such as
if inciting hatred is illegal. These rules are often called Terms of Service (ToS), or
Acceptable use policy. It is necessary to locate the word “hate” within these Terms or
policies. Usually, the provider reserves the right to assess a particular page against
these rules.
6. Next step is to write an email to the provider, stating breach of ToS by the author of
that content.
If the content is on a second level domain, it is necessary to examine the ToS or AUP
service at which the content is hosted, e.g. Wordpress
1. find out the address of the parent service
2. Identify ToS or AUP and see whether it contains anything on hateful or illegal
content.
3. If the content falls within one of these definitions, write an email to the
administrator, or report objectionable content.
Social Networks
Social Networks allow for quick and easy sharing of content that is not subject to
control or administration at the time of posting. Their importance in the last few years
has grown exponentially.
Facebook contains many groups, events, photos, meeting the definition of cyberhate.
In order to handle such huge amounts of information and requests for removal,
Facebook has generated the
Reporting System. Below is the example of the notification procedure:
1. Do the print screen of a particular post/group/picture
2. Click on the options
3. Select one of the options - Harassing a friend or hate speech or symbol.
4. Ask your friends on Facebook to do the same
Facebook evaluates how many requests for removal a particular post, picture,
video receives, and depending on the number of requests, administrators
decide whether to delete it or not.
YouTube
1. Backup your video with download helper
2. to record video to an electronic database
3. to check whether the same user has uploaded similar videos
4. Report video(s) as offensive.
Report to third-party complaints bureau’s and organisations
Example for the UK
INHOPE
INHOPE is the International Association of Internet Hotlines. INHOPE coordinates a
network of Internet Hotlines all over the world, supporting them in responding to
reports of illegal content to make the Internet safer.
http://www.inhope.org
True Vision
Online hate Crime
http://www.report-it.org.uk/home
On this website, you can:
 find out what hate crimes or hate incidents are.
 find out about the ways you can report them.
 report using the online form.
 find information about people that can help and support you if you have been a
victim.
Bullying UK
http://www.bullying.co.uk/cyberbullying/
For cyberbullying you can discuss experiences together.
The Community Security Trust (National Organisation for Jewish victims)
CST is proud to assist the work of the Police in tackling hate crime and preventing
terrorism; and we are grateful for the support and encouragement we have received
from Police officers of all ranks in our work.
TELL MAMA (National Organisation for Muslim Victims)
Reporting hate crime to Muslims, online and offline
The Monitoring Group
TMG is best known for its casework and Helpline service. Indeed these were one of
the early drivers for the creation of TMG. In 1980 the Ealing Family Support Group
would sit with families facing racial harassment both to provide support and record
the incidents
Galop
LGBT related hate crime
You can contact your local police station directly and arrange to make a crime report.
Alternatively, you can contact Galop and we may be able to refer you to an LGBTfriendly police officer (often called LGBT Liaison Officers). However, please be
aware that calling Galop is not an alternative to calling 999 in an emergency.
Reporting the media
The Independent Press Standards Organisation
The Independent Press Standards Organisation is the regulator for UK newspapers
and magazines, since 2014. You can make a report via their website: www.ipso.co.uk
The National Union of Journalists’ Code of Conduct
The NUJ’s code of conduct set’s out the main rules and codes to be followed by UK
and Irish journalism.
All journalists joining the NUJ have to sign up and agree they will strive to adhere to
its professional principles. Look at the code of conduct here to see if a journalist is
violating them:
http://www.nuj.org.uk/about/nuj-code/