Hate postings on the Internet have become a common phenomenon by now. Due to an alleged anonymity, hateful comments are being spread on the net. In many cases the legal parameters are missing, which would be needed to prosecute verbal abuses.
For almost two years, the Anti-Discrimination Office of the province of Styria has been in charge of the app "BanHate", where hate messages can be reported. At KM–, the head of the Anti-Discrimination Office, Daniela Grabovac, will introduce the app and talk from her professional experience. Gregor Fischer from the institute of human rights at the university of Graz will present the project design of the research project “NoHate@WebStyria” which started in February 2019 and is a cooperation between the UNI-ETC, the anti-discrimination office Styria and the institute of journalism and public relations at the FH Joanneum. Fischer will describe the human rights situation by reference to article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights and describe a few cases, in which the European Court of Human Rights had to interpret the right of free speech (partly online, party offline). Afterwards, there will be an open discussion on the themes of hate and publicity on the Internet and in law.
Mag. iur. Gregor Fischer, (*1991 Villach, lives in Graz) is project assistant at the European training and research center for human rights and democracy at the University of Graz (UNI-ETC). He conducts his research on human rights and sports (publication: FIFA and Human Rights: From Harsh Tackles to Fair Play?, NWV, Vienna, 2017), minority rights and free speech on the Internet (project: NoHate@WebStyria – https://nohate-webstyria.uni-graz.at). Together with Ao. Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Gerd Oberleitner he leads the Human Rights Moot Court course at the University of Graz, which teaches students the European Convention of Human Rights (EMRK) in a practical approach.
Mag. iur. Daniela Grabovac (*1978 Spittal/Drau, lives in Graz) is the head of the Anti-Discrimination Office of the province of Styria and co-founder of the NGO "Helping Hands" in Graz. For her anti-racism-hotline, she received the Human Rights Award of the city of Graz in 2007. From 2007 to 2012 she was also a member of the committee for human rights of the Austrian interior ministry.