The use of hate speech by politicians and what impact it has on citizens was the topic organized yesterday which brought us together to discuss with Visar Ymerin, Executive Director at the Musine Kokolari Institution and Jeta Xharra, Executive Director at BIRN. Meanwhile, the salon was moderated by Naile Dema Selmani, journalist/member of the AGK board.
Visar Ymeri, said that the language of hatred in country has been used before, but according to him, is worrying the fact that this language is growing recently, and women are the most attacked by this phenomen. We have noticed this from the public’s approach to President Jahjaga and other deputies. He added that politicians are aware that hate speech is expressed when it tends to oversimplify a political process or attack a political opponent. If we don’t separate the word criminal from another specific group, it’s hate speech. So, the problem with hate speech is when a social hierarchy is created in which a certain part of society, due to affiliations such as gender, ethnicity, race, religion, etc. are placed in a position of political inferiority, next to you, that is, moral superiority it gives you legitimacy to be violent in language, eventually and physically. So, according to Ymer, politics is usually what encourages the use of inappropriate language, and in countries like Kosovo, people are greatly influenced by what they hear in public.
However, Jeta Xharra, executive director at BIRN, said that social networks have given everyone the opportunity to express their “anger” without any consequences for what they say. Many people are dominated by comments on social networks and considering that we are living in a time when we are not publishing newspapers, reactions on social media are more unrestrained than ever before in the history of Kosova, both anonymously and openly. So, politicians are not necessarily the model that citizens follow today, but politicians are deciding to become populists, because they think that the jargon used is part of the mass and therefore brings votes for them. From what Jeta sees everyday, sexist and anti-liberal language is experienced on social networks especially when two certain topics related to religious identity and women are published. There are violent, unreasonable and extreme reactions to these two topics. This initiates an unprecedented conservatism.
“This salon is organized with the financial support of the European Union within the project “Combating Discrimination, Hate Speech and Gender-Based Violence”. The content of this publication is the responsibility of ATRC, IKS and D4D and in no way can be considered as the position of the European Union”.
