Project Synopsis
Title: Countering online hate speech — how to adequately protect fundamental rights?
Today, more than 4,5 billion people communicate through the Internet. Easy access, large audiences, anonymity and instantaneous publication of unfiltered contents all contribute to expeditious information spread and suggest new tools for large-scale influence. Online platforms have developed internal self-regulatory polices to counter hate speech and are regulating, presently, more speech content than any other system of governance since human rights law was created. Such private regulatory frameworks remain opaque, lack democratic enforcement and legal remedy mechanisms. At eLaw Leiden University, we will contribute to Work Package No 2 of the NETHATE project, which focuses on Technology and Social Media. This research aims at conducting a fundamental rights analysis on how online platforms counter hate speech through the deployment of digital technologies. More specifically, this work will seek to: 1) advance the legal conceptualisation of hate speech; 2) systematize legal obligations when regulating online hate speech; 3) propose and evaluate, from a human rights perspective, new mitigation and enforcement designs; and 4) study remedy mechanisms compliant with international human rights law.
host institution
partner organization(s)
early stage researcher
ESR7 Eva Nave, PhD Candidate at Leiden University
supervisor(s)
Prof. Simone van der Hof, Leiden University, technology law, children’s rights, cyberbullying, online sexual abuse, privacy and data protection
Prof. Tarlach McGonagle, Leiden University, media law, rights of minorities, freedom of speech
Outputs
Nave, E. (forthcoming, 2023). Hate speech, historical oppression and European human rights. Buffalo Human Right Law Review.
Nave, E. and Lane, L. (under review, 2023). Countering online hate speech in Europe: Enhanced preventive human rights due diligence responsibilities in the drafting of terms of service.
Nave, E. (2023, May 4) Hate speech, historical oppression and European human rights [Conference Presentation]. International Seminar Hate Speech: How to Counteract?, University of Azores, Azores, Portugal, https://sites.google.com/view/hatespeechhowtocounteract/home-page.
Countering online hate speech in Europe through enhanced human rights due diligence responsibilities in the drafting of terms of service. A presentation by Eva Nave (2023, April 13) at the Laborattori ittineranti di Diritto internazionale, Università degli Studi di Milano (UNIMI), Milan, Italy.
Hate speech, human rights and content moderation. A 2H guest lecture by Eva Nave (2023, February 15) for the Pre-University College course on Law and Technology, Center for Law and Digital Technologies, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Nave, E. (2023) European Workshop on Algorithmic Fairness [Workshop program committee], Winterthur, Switzerland, https://sites.google.com/view/ewaf23/committees?authuser=0.
Nave, E. and Lane, L. (2022, November 24) Countering online hate speech in Europe through enhanced human rights due diligence responsibilities in the drafting of terms of service [Conference Presentation]. Digital Legal Talks 2022 Conference, Paper presentations “Regulating online content and preserving democratic values”, Utrecht, The Netherlands, https://www.sectorplandls.nl/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Full-program-DLT2022.pdf.
Countering online hate speech – how to effectively protect fundamental rights? A presentation by Eva Nave (2022, January 17-19, online) at the International Workshop “Hate Speech – an Interdisciplinary Approach”, organized by the Minerva Center for the Rule of Law under Extreme Conditions at the University of Haifa in collaboration with Freie Universitat Berlin and Technischen Universitat Berlin, https://minervaxtremelaw.haifa.ac.il/2021/10/30/international-workshops-haifa-and-berlin/.
Countering online hate speech – how to effectively protect fundamental rights? A presentation by Eva Nave (2021, December 15-16, online) at the workshop “Method, methodology and critique in international law”, organized by the Asser Institute Center for International and European Law, https://www.asser.nl/education-events/events/?id=4229.
Countering online hate speech – how to effectively protect fundamental rights? A presentation by Eva Nave (2021, June 24, online) at the Fourth Annual Conference/Toogdag of the Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research (NNHRR) “Human Rights and Vulnerability”, participation in the panel on “Vulnerability and Human Rights in the Digital Age” convened by the NNHRR Human Rights in the Digital Age Working Group, https://www.asser.nl/nnhrr/events/annual-toogdag-2022/2021/.
Countering online hate speech – how to effectively protect fundamental rights? A presentation by Eva Nave (2021, May 20, online) at the Annual Conference/ Toogdag of the research programme “Effective Protection of Fundamental Rights in a pluralist word”, edition titled “Legal regimes and social divides – radicalization, discrimination and exclusion”.
Hate speech, cyberbullying and doxing. An interview of Eva Nave (online, 2021) for the Podcast series “Integrated Projects” created by students at the Leiden University’s Security Studies Bachelor’s degree, Leiden, The Netherlands.