The use of hate speech in the media against ethnic communities – What measures should be taken?, was the topic that was discussed in the Tuesday Salon. Elizabeth Gowing, political advisor for communities in the Prime Minister’s Office, and Emrah Cermjani, Executive Director of Roma in Action, were invited to discuss this topic. The moderation of the salon was done by Nora Gjuzi, the journalist.
Elizabeth Gowing has expressed that citizens should react in cases where they encounter discrimination against non-majority communities in Kosovo. Each of them should have an impact on the district where they live. Every member of the community faces cases of discrimination, where there are insults such as the acronym RAE which is taken as an insult. Cases have also been mentioned in social networks where most citizens of the communities do not have information about where to report. Gowing has shown that currently in Kosovo there are institutions where hate speech can be reported.
Whereas, Emrah Cermjani, has stated that when cases of abusive language are reported, no matter what they are, the institutions do not take priority, in an accelerated manner. According to him, better involvement in school education is needed. There is a lack of literature tailored to communities. The Ministry of Education should look at the possibility of including the history of other communities that are not Albanian but live in Kosovo within the textbooks.
It was also mentioned that cases of discrimination and the use of offensive language also occur in the Assembly of Kosovo. The tragedy is that everything ends with an apology, everything is forgotten the next day.
“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”.
