On 16 and 17 September, FORUM trained a group of volunteers in Bratislava, whose task will be to monitor and report hate speech against the Roma community on the internet. The team of volunteers is called ROMAntici (in English “ROMAntics”).
The training was attended by young people from different parts of Slovakia and some who study abroad. Their common goal is to contribute to the fight against online hate and discrimination and make internet a better place for all. The training took place at the University Library in Bratislava and the volunteers were trained by experts from Konexe, digiq and the #somtu initiative.
The training and the upcoming activities of the volunteers are part of the two-year project Together Against Hate, which is coordinated by the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) in parallel in three countries: Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania. In the framework of the project, the ERRC, together with partner organisations, will involve Roma and non-Roma volunteers in monitoring and reporting hate speech, which will be dealt with legally with the help of lawyers. The initiative will run until 2024 and aims to use legal means against those who allow hate speech against Roma to spread online.
The project is funded by the European Commission Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV- 2021-EQUAL).
The training took place in the premises of the University Library in Bratislava.
