Event information

8 April 2020, 15:00-17:00

Right On: Fighting Online Hate Speech and Fake News in a Global Crisis

Right On

Content challenges such as fake news, disinformation campaigns, and online hate speech are increasingly common these days. These challenges are far from recent developments; the outbreak of the coronavirus has only accelerated this ‘infodemic’, while the growth in online acts of hate speech – in particular towards Asian people – have contributed to the ‘coronaracism’ phenomenon.

In order to curb down the spread of false information, xenophobia, and online intolerance, governments worldwide have or are taking steps to enact legislation which sanctions such conduct. The private sector, led by tech giants Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Apple, has also taken the initiative to help fight some of the most pervasive challenges of the digital era.

Our Wednesday webchat ‘Right On’ will discuss these prevailing issues and how they affect us – particularly during a crisis, as well as what lessons we can draw from our experience in attempting to effectively address fake news and online hate speech.

Moderators

  • Jovan Kurbalija, Founding Director, DiploFoundation and Head, Geneva Internet Platform
  • Marc Limon, Executive Director, URG

Speakers

  • Andrew Fagan, Director, Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex
  • Mona Rishmawi, Chief of the Rule of Law, Equality and Non-Discrimination Branch, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
  • Bahia Tahzib-Lie, Human Rights Ambassador, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Registration

To join the discussion, you need to register here.

‘Right On’: The Wednesday Web Chat

‘Right On’ is a new digital initiative – co-organized by the Geneva Academy, the Geneva Human Rights Platform, the Geneva Internet Platform, the DiploFoundation, the Universal Right Group, the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex, as well as the Permanent Missions of Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands to the United Nations in Geneva  –  that will keep the human rights dialogue going during these COVID-19 times.

Every Wednesday at 15:00, experts and practitioners will discuss key human rights issues related to the current health crisis.

Video

Right On: Fighting Online Hate Speech and Fake News in a Global Crisis

In this first event of the ‘Right On’ digital initiative, panelists discussed online hatespeech and fakenews, notably in the context of the current global crisis.

 

Banner Logos

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

News

New Working Paper Explores AI for Human Rights and SDG Monitoring

30 January 2025

A new working paper, 'AI Decoded: Key Concepts and Applications of Artificial Intelligence for Human Rights and SDG Monitoring', has been published by the Geneva Human Rights Platform.

Read more

Human Rights Tiles News

From Signals to Action: Strengthening the UN's Conflict Prevention Efforts

31 March 2025

Our recent research brief series explores how the United Nations' human rights system can enhance its role in early warning and conflict prevention.

Read more

Refugees Event

Unlocking Rights: Due Process and Human Rights of Refugees Deprived of Liberty

23 June 2025, 18:00-19:30

This Geneva Human Rights Platform event, organised with the Platform of Independent Experts on Refugee Rights will discuss the issue of Due Process and Human Rights of Refugees Deprived of Liberty. 

Read more

AI for Good Event Event

AI for human rights: Smarter, faster, fairer monitoring

8 July 2025, 14:00-16:00

The event, as part of the AI for Good Summit 2025 will explore how AI tools can support faster data analysis, help uncover patterns in large datasets, and expand the reach of human rights work.

Read more

Town Hall Meeting Training

Localizing International Human Rights

8-10 October 2025

This training course, specifically designed for staff of city and regional governments, will explore the means and mechanisms through which local and regional governments can interact with and integrate the recommendations of international human rights bodies in their concrete work at the local level.

Read more

Universal Declaration of Human Rights Booklet Training

The International Human Rights Standards and System: Monitoring and Implementation Strategies at the National Level

7-11 July 2025

This training course will delve into the means and mechanisms through which national actors can best coordinate their human rights monitoring and implementation efforts, enabling them to strategically navigate the UN human rights system and use the various mechanisms available in their day-to-day work.

Read more

Project

The Lake Room Initiative (Space for Dialogue)

Started in February 2024

Read more

George Floyd protest in Washington D.C. Project

Promoting and Protecting the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association and Civic Space Worldwide

Started in June 2020

This project aims at providing support to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association Clément Voulé by addressing emerging issues affecting civic space and eveloping tools and materials allowing various stakeholders to promote and defend civic space.

Read more

Cover of the publication Publication

Briefing N° 25: Localizing Multilateralism

published on March 2025

Domenico Zipoli, Ludovica Chiussi Curzi, Kamelia Kemileva

Read more