How to counter xenophobia: journalism students attend lecture on hate speech
On 16 October, journalism students, together with the guarantor of the educational programme, A.F. Solomakhin, attended an online lecture entitled ‘How to counter xenophobia in wartime. The media aspect.’ 
On 16 October, journalism students, together with the guarantor of the educational programme, A.F. Solomakhin, attended an online lecture entitled ‘How to counter xenophobia in wartime. The media aspect.’
The meeting was initiated by the Kyiv Human Rights Hub and the Department of Social Communications of the Institute of Journalism at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
Iryna Virtosu, a representative of the Hub and coordinator of training and mentoring at the Kyiv Human Rights Hub, outlined the key points of the academic event. The speaker at the event was Vyacheslav Likhachov, an expert at the Centre for Civil Liberties and head of the National Minority Rights Monitoring Group.
During the lecture, students from Kharkiv State University and other educational institutions learned about hate speech, how it manifests itself in the media, decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on this issue, and liability for hate speech under Ukrainian law.
In addition, the lecturer introduced the electronic resource ‘Human Rights Guide’, which brings together systematic knowledge in this area, including theoretical information on human rights, national and European legislation, case studies on the use of hate speech, human rights guidelines, etc.
Such events are of great importance for future journalists. They help to deepen understanding of the role of the media in shaping a tolerant society, teach responsible use of language and how to avoid hate speech. We would like to thank the organisers for the opportunity to participate in the event and gain useful knowledge that will be useful in our future work as journalists.
Author: Daria Vorona, second-year student at the Faculty of Journalism