Founding Meeting of the Anti-Hate Speech Initiative: Setting the Framework and Defining the Stages of Action

The Anti-Hate Speech Initiative convened its founding meeting on 25 July 2025, gathering 28 researchers, activists, and specialists to establish a shared operational framework to confront the escalating spread of hate speech within the Syrian context. The meeting opened with a presentation outlining the risks of hate speech in post-conflict societies, drawing on comparative cases from Rwanda, Bosnia, and Myanmar. These examples highlighted the structural similarities between early hate-speech patterns and the stages that typically precede large-scale collective violations. Participants discussed the nature of hate speech, how it is produced and circulated, and the mechanisms through which it can be countered—whether through deconstruction, narrative reframing, or generating constructive alternative discourse. The meeting concluded with agreement on three principal stages of collective action: 1. Monitoring Tracking hate-speech content online and documenting incidents through a unified reporting template. 2. Analysis Assessing linguistic markers, emotional tone, and intensity levels of hate speech; developing a Syrian-specific hate-speech lexicon to support systematic documentation and automated detection. 3. Action A dual-track approach: • Technical response: Reporting and requesting the takedown of accounts and pages that incite hatred. • Legal response: Initiating complaints and legal proceedings inside Syria or in European host countries. The group also identified a set of key challenges, including the lack of a unified definition of hate speech, political and sectarian biases, the scale and speed of content circulation, and the variations between legal frameworks across countries. A central part of the discussion focused on the need to dismantle the narratives accompanying political developments, and on the potential of comedy, visual media, and satirical content to generate alternative narratives capable of diffusing tension. Participants emphasized collaboration with experts and organizations working on counter-disinformation. By the end of the meeting, attendees endorsed a workplan that includes forming dedicated teams for monitoring, analysis, technical response, and legal follow-up; creating a Facebook group for internal coordination; and setting a timeline for the first monitoring and analysis cycle. Participants affirmed that the initiative is grounded in voluntary, decentralized action, relying on the collective expertise and commitment of its members. They underscored that confronting hate speech is a shared responsibility essential for preventing escalation and safeguarding social cohesion in Syria.