Ireland joins battle against online hate speech
Saorlaith Ní Bhroin, 28, who works with the Immigrant Council of Ireland, has been selected to join representatives from 50 countries in the two-year project which is being overseen by the Council of Europe.
Special websites are among several initiatives planned to encourage young people to take the lead in tackling on the spread of racism, xenophobia, homophobia, and discrimination.
Ms Ní Bhroin said she could see human rights bloggers playing a key role in “combating this modern day challenge”.
“The internet allows us to contact friends across the globe with the click of a mouse and to witness history as it unfolds, but there is also a darker side where it is used to spread messages of hate,” she said.
“Such messages not only represent bullying but are a human rights abuse which cannot be tolerated.”
Ms Ní Bhroin, from Dennehy’s Cross in Cork, went to school at Gaelcholáiste Choilm in Ballincollig, before studying law and French in UCC. She completed a master’s in human rights and democratisation in Venice before working for Caritas Europa in Brussels for two years.
She then took up a post with the Immigrant Council, and worked on human rights issues for the UN in Tanzania. She starts work on the new project this week.
“This is a very new area and I am very interested to get involved,” she said.
Denise Charlton, the chief executive of the Immigrant Council said, she is delighted that it will be involved in tackling what she described as one of the most challenging areas for human rights campaigners today.
“We have seen how the internet can be used to spread democracy and freedom, but it is also a tool which has been used to bully both individuals and entire sections of society,” Ms Charlton said.
“The issues are complex. A balance must be struck between ensuring we all enjoy the freedoms of the web, while at the same-time showing there is no acceptable level of racism.”
