On June 18, the International Day For Countering Hate Speech, it is important to remember that at different periods in world history, hateful content has been present at various levels of discussion. From freedom of expression to the facts of genocide.

The legal definition of the "hate speech" is still under discussion on a global scale.

However, the strategy for regulating hate speech online continues to discuss. There are many methods of countering hate speech based on the internal ethics of users, speakers, and journalists.

But these methods are highly dependent on country contexts. They include a package of intellectual tools and even AI that can carry and allow the dissemination of toxic content. The main thing is to understand this and set yourself up to overcome the vocabulary of tension in any of its expressions.

"This great research activities has helped reduce the level of hate speech in the public space,” Inga Sikorskaia, program director said. - However, we faced a number of other challenges. Among them is the mixing of freedom of expression principle, hate speech and even satire. To countering them, new approaches in upbringing, education and cultural promotion are needed”.

Over the past 13 years, the School of Peacemaking and Media Technology in Central Asia has produced more than 25 reports on monitoring, documenting and analysing different forms of hate speech in public discourse. It has also developed training materials and about a hundred recommendations for the authorities, media, civil society.

Today, School of Peacemaking’ mentors organized a series of virtual consultations for public speakers, journalists, and activists dedicated to the International Day Countering Hate Speech.

The School of Peacemaking and Media Technology in Central Asia announces an annual a competition among students from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, studying journalism and mass communication, law, cultural studies and anthropology, to participate in research and media monitoring projects.

This internship is scheduled for the period from December 15, 2025 to January 25, 2026.

In some cases, a student can start an internship earlier.

The internship will be carried out in a distance format or offline.

The selected interns will be trained in new analytical tools, AI tools, will have access to databases and, together with the team, will conduct a few studies.

Participation in the internship is a good practice, upon completion of which a certificate will be issued.

An important criterion for selecting interns is knowledge of languages ​​(regional languages, English), proficiency, perseverance, attentiveness, a clear application of methodology, AI and indicators in practice, a desire to work with large amounts of information.

Topics for research 2025-2026:

Migration and hate speech

Media misogyny and hate speech (focused on local countries context)

Strategies of correct polemics (in the selected country context after the analysis of media discourse)

Disinformation and misinformation: impact on public discourse (in the selected context)

A motivation letter and a CV including the contacts of at least two referees should be sent to peacemakingandmediaca@gmail.com until 18:00 Bishkek time, November 30, 2025 marked "For internship".

Applications sent after this deadline will not be considered. The team does not comment on the selection methods and does not respond to letters of inquiry after the end of the call.

The expert group have explored new linguistic approaches to studying misogyny.

The workshop was led by mentors from the School of Peacemaking, both online and offline.

Media monitoring reports show that misogynistic behavior, including the dissemination of toxic content, is becoming the norm for many social media users around the world, according to the participants.

The digital sphere plays a major role in the dissemination of misogynistic views, including the spread of trolling in the Central Asia digital environment. Test monitoring of Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube showed that content creators used the platform to promote regressive gender roles and narratives aimed at accusations of misogyny.

The workshops presented new linguistic approaches to identifying signs of misogyny through AI tools, modern and accessible media monitoring systems, and analysis methods in different countries. The researchers gained knowledge that they will apply in their future work when writing reports, public speeches and articles on various topics that use gender-sensitive information.

When we hear and see speakers, users, trolls being misogynistic or perpetuating harmful ideas about gender, we can change the narrative. There are 12 steps for empowering change by transforming narratives.

 The presence of misogyny in public discourse shapes perceptions and influences behaviours. This toxic narrative contributes to a culture of silence surrounding women's issues and can deter individuals from expressing dissenting opinions or advocating for gender equality. Misogyny has deep historical roots, evolving across cultures and centuries In Patriarchal т societies that devalued women to contemporary perceptions, these attitudes have shaped gender roles and societal expectations.

The package of new intellectual tools was developed based on our research and hate speech media monitoring. These tools referred to "How to challenge your opinion correctly”, "How to change the narrative about misogyny”, "Using examples to change the media landscape” and others.

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Social media giants Meta and X failed to take down far-right hate speech adverts on their platforms, in an apparent bid to influence election outcomes in Germany, an investigation has revealed.

A report by corporate accountability group Ekō revealed that it submitted ten adverts to social media networks Meta and X this month, which openly targeted immigrants and Muslims in an attempt to imitate and garner attention from those involved in Germany’s far-right and extremist movements.

With the adverts submitted between 10-14 February, they were made in the German language and were geo-restricted to Germany, calling for various extremist ideas including imprisoning and gassing immigrants, burning mosques and equating immigrants to animals and germs, along with AI-generated images of scenes such as "immigrants crowded into a gas chamber and synagogues on fire”.

According to the investigation, Meta approved half of those adverts within 12 hours while X scheduled all of them for publication. Before those adverts went live, however, Ekō’s researchers cancelled and removed them in order for them not to be seen by users and the target audience.

Through the social media networks’ approval of those advert submissions, the investigation found that they directly went against laws preventing hate speech in the European Union, with both X and Meta’s platforms of Instagram and Facebook being signatories to the EU Code of Conduct on countering illegal hate speech online under the bloc’s Digital Services Act.

Aside from inciting far-right and extremist sentiment and potential attacks against those such as immigrants and Muslims, the approval of such adverts concern many who believe that apparent bias could potentially impact the outcome of elections throughout Germany. That was particularly the concern for the latest Bundestag election over the weekend, which saw the far-right Alternative For Germany (AfD) party gain significant ground throughout the country, especially in its east.

According to the news outletEuractiv, a spokesperson for Meta said: "None of them [the adverts] were published and our systems detected and disabled the advertiser’s page before we became aware of this research. Our ads review process has several layers of analysis and detection, both before and after an ad goes live.” They added that Meta and its platforms "continue to invest significant resources to protect elections.”

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It has now become commonplace for media to use artificial intelligence to write news. Robots routinely transform data into a story, and a story into multimedia content.

As more organizations begin to use AI, there is a need to focus on ethics and robotic newswriting.

What accuracy and transparency problems do robotic systems create? What bad scenarios do we need to worry about?

Most robot newswriting so far has been for fairly formulaic situations: company earnings reports, stock market summaries, earthquake alerts and youth sports stories.

As news organizations transition to AI, they should ask themselves some serious questions.

Here is a checklist of things to consider regarding 1) personal stories about robots, 2) news evaluation and transparency issues, and 3) pitfalls to watch out for.

MORE DETAILS YOU CAN FIND OUT AT THE PEACEMAKING WEBINARS

Afghan women were not allowed to participate in the ongoing UN-supported meeting in Doha.

Representatives from 25 countries are attending the event. The Taliban group, which is banned in many parts of the world, has said that "women's issues are an internal Afghan affair and will be dealt with according to Sharia law".

Human rights activists and citizens criticized the UN for not inviting Afghan women to the negotiating table with the Taliban in Doha and called the approach "misguided."

Tirana Hassan, executive director of Human Rights Watch, warned that excluding women "risks legitimizing Taliban misconduct and irreparably damaging the credibility of the United Nations as a defender of women's rights".

Despite that Afghan women are half of Afghan society #Afghanistan will remain the only country in the world where women and girls are denied the right to attend school and receive an education.

Talks without women is a big problem and is giving power and legitimacy to the Taliban.

This is the third such meeting in Doha, the capital of Qatar, but the first to be attended by the Taliban. The fundamentalist group, recognized as a terrorist group in many countries, has ruled Afghanistan since terrorists seized power after the withdrawal of coalition troops in August 2021.

Activists around the world call the plight of women in Afghanistan "gender apartheid."

The School of Peacemaking and Media Technology in Central Asia joined the global action to eliminate gender apartheid and recognize it as a crime against humanity.

The International Day for Countering Hate Speech, commemorated annually on June 18th, shines a spotlight on the pressing need to address the pervasive issue of hate speech, which has become increasingly amplified in the digital era.  UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivers his special address on the International Day for Countering Hate Speech. He says that  hate speech is a marker of discrimination, abuse, violence, conflict, and even crimes against humanity.

Hate speech today targets a broad range of groups, often based on grounds of race, ethnicity, religion, belief, or political affiliation. Recent months have seen an upsurge in both antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate speech online and in public comments by influential leaders. Hate speech may be used against women, refugees, migrants, gender-diverse and trans people, and minorities. It is massively amplified by the power of digital platforms and tools that enable it to spread across borders and cultures.

States have an obligation under international law to prevent and combat incitement to hatred and to promote diversity, mutual understanding and solidarity. They must step up and implement these commitments, while ensuring that the measures they take preserve freedom of speech and protect minorities and other communities.

The United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech provides a framework to tackle both the causes and impacts of this scourge. And the United Nations is currently preparing Global Principles for Information Integrity to guide decision-makers around these issues. 

As young people are often most affected by hate speech, particularly online, young people must be part of the solution. The participation of young people, particularly girls and young women, indigenous youth, young people from minority communities, LGBTIQ youth, and young people with disabilities, is crucial to create public and online spaces free from hate speech.

Governments, local authorities, religious, corporate and community leaders have a duty to invest in measures to promote tolerance, diversity and inclusivity, and to challenge hate speech in all its forms.

As we mark the International Day for Countering Hate Speech, let us all work to promote human rights education, bring young people into democratic decision-making, and counter intolerance, discrimination, prejudice and stereotypes, wherever they are found, his message said.