Re-ACT´s concise summary of available tools, good practices and creative approaches
by Selma Muhič Dizdarevič, ROMEA
About the project
Analysis of hate data collected by members of the International Network Against Cyber Hate, INACH, in Europe has shown that there are strong and documented links between current online hate phenomena and hate-slurs, prejudices and practices that have been propagated in the Third Reich. To transform these worrisome findings into effective warnings, especially since remembrance and knowledge on the Holocaust and its horrors are fading, the project Remember and ACT! (Re-ACT) is putting a special focus on researching how “old” concepts of antisemitism and antigypsyism are being re-enacted by concerted hate campaigns and where they originated from. Starting from there, Re-ACT will develop, collect, and provide educational materials and tools for the prevention of racism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of intolerance. These self-generated sets of information plus a curated collection of high-quality educational materials will build the foundation for the establishment of an online prevention-hub at INACH.
Goals and methodology
The main goal of this concise summary is to highlight the available tools, best practices and creative approaches regarding antigypsyism and antisemitism in the online setting. The phenomenon of online hate speech is on the increase and thus makes it urgent to come up with multiple strategies to deal with it. These strategies include identifying and removing hate speech from social and other platforms but that is not enough. There is an urgent need to approach the hate speech in multiple settings and from many angles, including creative approaches, new strategies, better coalitions and more information sharing among the variety of organizations dealing with different aspects of hate speech. New technological developments call for more focused responses and fresh ways of understanding how technology can be put to good use.
Besides education, what is needed is a wide range of the approaches, tailor made for the needs of specific groups and specific forms of hate. A vast body of projects, initiatives, organizations, movements, hackathons, webinars, seminars, courses, trainings etc. has been and is being created but it is often difficult to have an overview and select what is needed for a specific group (e.g. youth, senior citizens) a for a specific type of hate (antigypsyism, anti-Muslim hate, racism, etc.). It is rarely possible to rely on general expertise, fortunately this is not needed as many experts create content ready-made for users, who do not focus exclusively on a specific form of hate. In that vein the Re-ACT project aims as one of its main accomplishments to create an online hub, providing a chance to benefit from collective knowledge gathered so far. In the methodological sense, this summary is based on the content collected by the Re-ACT project team with the purpose of creating hub-based materials that would cover available knowledge on how to address online antigypsyism and antisemitism. Within the project a number of publications were created. The project team recommends consulting specifically Factsheet – overview of best practices, examples and EU tools[1]. The summary will select examples of tools, practices and approaches based on some categories established for the hub purposes, with a short description of the selected examples.
Educational resources and materials
Education for Remembrance of the Roma Genocide
A network of youth associations, which creates space for young people to become active citizens through empowerment, mobilisation, self-organisation and participation. The goal and mission is to create trust, and mutual respect between Roma and non-Roma youth. The available tools and approaches include ternYpe European Youth Campaign, ternYpe academy, resources for the Roma Holocaust Remembrance Day and relevant news[2].
Factsheet on Romani history, language, culture and literature
The website provides information on Roma history, language, culture and literature in Romani, Albanian, Serbian, English, German, French, Swedish and Romanian languages[3].
Teaching the Holocaust: Innovative Approaches to the Challenges We Face
This course provides an understanding of the history of the Holocaust, hearing from scholars at Yad Vashem, and experts from UCL and innovative pedagogical approaches and resources, becoming empowered to develop own material[4].
An introduction to antisemitic tropes
Understanding antisemitic tropes and myths is key to combating antisemitism. Young people will often experience them first on social media or through popular culture instead of in a safe space, like school. If young people are educated on these tropes they will be better equipped to identify, and call out, antisemitism when they see it[5].
Channels and platforms
Anne Frank House education materials
Focus on Prejudice, discrimination, and antisemitism and how to deal with them. Here one can watch the videos, read the answers to frequently asked questions, and watch the personal stories of some young people. The materials are available in variety of languages[6].
The European Roma Information Office (ERIO)
ERIO is a European advocacy organisation that promotes political and public discussion on Roma issues by providing factual and in-depth information on a range of policy issues to European Union institutions, Roma civil organisations, governmental authorities and intergovernmental bodies. We cooperate with a large network of organisations and act to combat racial discrimination and social exclusion by raising awareness, lobbying and developing policy. Includes resources, campaigns, advocacy tools and news[7].
Bard Centre for the study of Hate (BCSH)
The Center works to increase the study of human hatred, and ways to combat it. The Center supports faculty and students throughout the Bard network who want to study and/or combat hatred and its various manifestations. BCSH brings scholars from diverse disciplines to Bard College and all of its campuses to speak about the human capacity to hate and demonize others. It mentors and support students working at internships with nongovernmental organizations that combat hate. It funds students at Bard whose Senior Projects relate to the study of hate, and who need additional resources for their research. BCSH seeks to impact public discussion about hatred nationally and internationally. Includes curricula, courses, webinars and a YouTube channel[8].
Council of Europe Roma and Travellers Portal
The Team supports member states’ governments in the design and implementation of laws, policies, programs and measures so as to ensure that Council of Europe human rights standards are effectively implemented and benefit Roma and Travellers. Activities are based on strategic orientations agreed by the Committee of Ministers and set out in the Council of Europe Strategic Action Plan for Roma and Traveller Inclusion (2020-2025). Includes adopted relevant texts, statements, press releases, videos, glossary and Roma history factsheet[9].
Literature, research, studies
Experiences and perceptions of antisemitism – Second survey on discrimination and hate crime against Jews in the EU
The report outlines the main findings of the Fundamental Rights Agency´s second survey on Jewish people´s experiences with hate crime, discrimination and antisemitism in the European Union – the biggest survey of Jewish people ever conducted worldwide. Covering 12 EU Member States, the survey reached almost 16,500 individuals who identify as being Jewish. It follows up on the agency´s first survey, conducted in seven countries in 2012[10].
Research on policy and practice for Roma inclusion in the Member States
This report is intended to assist the European Commission, civil society organisations, academics and a variety of key organisations and engaged individuals in furthering understanding of how policy impacts on the lives of Roma in countries across Europe. Including key recommendations[11].
Right to Remember A Handbook for Education with Young People on the Roma Genocide
This handbook is a self-contained educational resource that does not replace the work of historians; on the contrary, it aims to make history accessible, expose its complexity and link it with the situation today in order to pursue the long-term goal of human rights for all. This handbook is now here to serve both teachers as well as NGOs and youth organisations, to work with young people on the remembrance of the Roma Genocide. It is based on the principles of human rights education and places remembrance as an aspect of learning about, through and for human rights. The handbook itself includes educational activities, detailed explanations of how to prepare and run them, as well as commemoration events and information about the Genocide and its relevance to the situation of the Roma people today[12].
Hosting the ‘Holohoax’: A Snapshot of Holocaust Denial Across Social Media
This briefing paper provides a snapshot of Holocaust denial content across major social media platforms. By analysing the term ´holohoax´, which is commonly used by Holocaust deniers, this paper exams the extent to which Holocaust denial content in readily accessible across Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and YouTube. It reveals important insights about how Facebook and Twitter provide a home to an established and active community of Holocaust deniers. While Holocaust denial is present on Reddit, our research suggests that such activity has been reduced through a combination of moderation efforts and pushback from other users. This paper also demonstrates how appropriately applied content moderation policies can be effective in denying dangerous conspiracy theorists a public platform by examining how Holocaust denial content has decreased significantly in the past year on YouTube[13].
Audio/video materials
How Can State Institutions Help Overcome Antigypsyism in Europe
On December 1, 2015, the German Federal Foreign Office hosted the first international symposium on antigypsyism in Berlin. The debates, conferences and workshops emphasized that antigypsyism is the major obstacle to the socio[1]economic advancement of Roma in Europe today. Combatting antigypsyism is about advocating for inclusive institutions and fair public services rather than tackling individual anti-Roma sentiment in isolation. Video material[14].
Viral: Antisemitism in Four Mutations
Mass murders, vandalism, social media abuse, propaganda, assault – by virtually every yardstick, antisemitism in the U.S. and Europe is rising and worsening in ways not seen since the 1930s. Like a virus, it mutates and evolves across cultures, borders and ideologies, making it all but impossible to stop. Filmmaker Andrew Goldberg explores its infectious behavior in his film “Viral: Antisemitism In Four Mutations.[15]”
Exhibitions on Holocaust
in Serbia Six-panel set, ready for download, print, and exhibiting, is developed for better understanding of the historical experience in Serbia in the context of the European Holocaust[16].
Sounds like Hate
Sounds Like Hate is an audio documentary series about the dangers and peril of everyday people who engage in extremism, and ways to disengage them from a life of hatred[17].
[1] Available at: https://react.inach.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Re-ACT-Factsheet[1]Overview-of-best-practices-examples-and-EU-tools.pdf (last accessed 14.3.2021)
[2] More info at: https://www.ternype.eu/ (last accessed 14.3.2021)
[3] More info at: http://romafacts.uni-graz.at/?l_history=en#title_history (last accessed 14.3.2021)
[4] More info at: https://www.yadvashem.org/education/online-courses/teaching-the holocaust.html (last accessed 14.3.2021)
[5] More info at: https://getthetrollsout.org/the-project (last accessed 14.3.2021)
[6] More info at: https://www.annefrank.org/en/about-us/ (last accessed 14.3.2021)
[7] More info at: http://www.erionet.eu/about-us.htm (last accessed 14.3.2021)
[8] More info at: https://bcsh.bard.edu/ (last accessed 14.3.2021)
[9] More info at: https://www.coe.int/en/web/roma-and-travellers/about-us (last accessed 14.3.2021)
[10] More info at: https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2018/experiences-and-perceptions[10]antisemitism-second-survey-discrimination-and-hate (last accessed 15.3.2021)
[11] More info at: https://www.salford.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/1155789/Roma[11]MATRIX-Final-Report.pdf (last accessed 15.3.2021)
[12] More info at: https://rm.coe.int/168008b633 (last accessed 15.3.2021)
[13] More info at: https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Hosting-the[13]Holohoax.pdf (last accessed 15.3.2021)
[14] More info at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpWT48dTU7I (last accessed 15.3.2021)
[15] More info at: https://www.pbs.org/show/viral-antisemitism-four-mutations/ (last accessed 15.3.2021) – paid content.
[16] https://terraforming.org/teaching-materials/#exhibitions (last accessed 15.3.2021)
[17] More info at: https://soundslikehate.org/ (last accessed 15.3.2021)