Workshop: How to counter hate speech and manage an online community

When: 20-21 November 2017
Where: Rome, Italy

To be eligible, you must be resident in a EU member state, Iceland or Liechtenstein.


The rise of hate speech in recent years has become a dangerous trend in our society. It poses challenges both to the media professionals and our democratic values in society. Media have a vital role to play in challenging hostility and prejudice, encouraging social solidarity and helping to promote understanding and empathy with others.

COSPE is organising a workshop for journalists who want to improve their knowledge and capacity to counter hate speech and sexism and promote rights of minority groups who are discriminated and targets of hate speech.

25 journalists from EU countries will gather at the event in Rome on 20 – 21 November 2017.

The event, organised within the Media against Hate project, will consist of a roundtable and a three-session workshop on specific topics.

The event aims to:

  • improve the professional skills of journalists in countering hate speech and create a positive community;
  • develop a network of journalists across Europe with commitment  to improve media tools against hate speech

The speakers and trainers (Pietro Suber – Carta di Roma, Aidan White – EJN, Francesca Fanelli – Art. 19, Laura Bononcini – Facebook, Alessandra Mancuso – Rai, Elisabetta Tola – Google, Valentina Vellucci – Magilla Guerrilla) will focus on the role of journalism in combating and preventing hate speech (against minority groups and women) and on digital media tools and platforms that can be used to support the work of those trying to counter hate speech.

People interested in attending the workshop should contact mediagainsthateitaly@gmail.com for further information on how to apply. The registration will be open until 04 October 2017. The costs of participation will be covered by the organisers.

COSPE is one of the partners gathered by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) for the project Media Against Hate. Other partners involved in the project are: ARTICLE 19, Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE), Community Media Institute (COMMIT), Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA) and Media Diversity Institute (MDI).

The project is financially supported by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) Programme of the European Union.


Working language for the workshop will be English.

Participation is free of charge; travel, food and accomodation will be covered by the organisers

Due to limited spaces available, we can only accept 25 participants for this workshop. Please register as soon as possible to express your interest and we will try to accommodate your need.