Victims of online hate speech need a more effective platform to report crimes and greater awareness of their rights as victims, according to the European Law Students Association (ELSA).
In a policy paper on online hate speech published yesterday, the University of Malta student organisation highlighted the importance of education in combatting intolerance and racism, and tweaking existing legislation to address changes brought on by new technology.
“The online world has brought with it many positive changes, and yet it has also created unprecedented challenges, which could be overcome with the effort and collaboration of professionals, politicians and civil society,” ELSA said in a statement.
“Online public space should be subject to the same expectations regarding human rights as physical public space – human rights apply online just as they apply to the rest of society.”
The authors of the paper, led by law student Sara Ezabe, also stressed the need for the full implementation and transposition of the EU framework decision on combating racism and xenophobia.
They called for consultative meetings to establish a concrete definition of online hate speech and a more efficient way of monitoring online incidents by major tech companies.
“Although campaigns like the ‘No Hate Movement’ have brought forward various resources, there still needs more structural initiatives for the public to know how to evaluate, take action and report such crimes,” ELSA said.
“This calls for a more effective platform for victims, and also awareness of such rights whilst carrying out projects aiming at increasing victims’ trust and facilitating reporting.”
The problem of hate speech aimed at minority groups on social media has become increasingly relevant in Malta, with NGOs noticing a surge in incidents with the influx of irregular migrants as well as rapid changes in LGBT rights legislation.
Recent studies have shown that across the EU hate crime is often not seen as a serious offence and is significantly under-reported.
In May, Magistrate Aaron Bugeja warned that Malta’s legislation contained a loophole as hate speech could only constitute a criminal offence if the target group were actually in Malta.
The situation came to light after the arrest of a prison warder for comments made on Facebook. The accused had posted “I hope it’s burning with them inside” on a shared article about a string of arson attacks on facilities housing asylum seekers in Sweden.
Meanwhile, the European Commission yesterday issued the first evaluation of how IT companies including Facebook, Google and Twitter have applied a code of conduct agreed upon in May to combat illegal online hate speech.
According to the Commission, initial results showed that 28 per cent of all notifications of alleged illegal hate speech led to the removal of the flagged content.
However, only 40 per cent of all notifications are currently reviewed under 24 hours, while the aim of the code of conduct is to review the majority within 24 hours.
European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Vera Jourová said: “The last weeks and months have shown that social media companies need to live up to their important role and take up their share of responsibility when it comes to phenomena like online radicalisation, illegal hate speech or fake news. While IT companies are moving in the right direction, the first results show that the IT companies will need to do more to make it a success.”