Abstract:

The use of the Internet literally created a virtual world, which has been weaved into every single field of human activity, directly or not. People need to adopt in this modern way of interaction due to its unquestionable positive effect. However, humanity also experiences several side effects. As suggested in several published studies that took place at European and international level, in addition to training in the use of digital technology, there emerges a pressing need to preserve and maintain fundamental values in an ever-changing world.

As a consequence of the extended use of the digital media, modern communication ethics became a field of significant concern, because phenomena like the alarming amplification of online hate speech hinder inclusion, freedom of speech and digital citizenship. Education is highlighted as a powerful tool against online hate speech, for example in the UN article of September 30, 2021 (UN,*) or during the “Global Education Ministers Conference and Multi-stakeholder Forum: Addressing hate speech through education” (September-October 2021*). Nevertheless, we are only in the beginning of a chain of studies to track the phenomenon and provide appropriate educational policy recommendations.

Advanced Media Literacy to Counter Online Hate Speech (AMeLiE) is a two-year Erasmus+ KA2 Project which brings together six partners from five countries: Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy and Romania. The vision of AMeLiE is to support and develop inclusion and sustainability in our modern society using expertise in digital technology alongside with updated pedagogy. Notably, the project main objective is to counter online hate speech phenomena by offering innovative and already tested tools and initiatives to the world of education. Τhe project brings together research and school practice, aiming to be so effective as to easily achieve significant impact on schools and beyond, towards a real, non-hostile communication movement.

The project conducted a research at 5 European countries focusing on the imprint of online hate speech on members of school communities. DAISSy Research Group of Hellenic Open University (HOU), the partner representing Greece in the consortium, led the qualitative study in Greek primary and secondary schools, seeking to document the dimensions of online hate speech experienced by members of the school community. After the public announcement of the research, 15 participants, teachers and Headmasters, were selected as representatives of 10 pilot schools from different regions across the country. The methodology of Coaching Circles (CC) was applied in the research, according to which, during three 90-minute recorded sessions, participants worked upon relevant case studies (one per session).

According to the CC protocol, data form the participants contribution were collected and studied in five categories: insights and remarks, images, gestures, feelings and the CC Coordinators’ remarks. The results comprise evidence to identify the skills and competences that young people need to combat online hate speech and hostile behavior. It also includes various aspects of online hate speech in the school community, meaningful feedback from educators and solid suggestions for Institutions to be founded based on modern teaching and pedagogy.

This paper aims at presenting the methodology, implementation and results of the study on how to address the issue of online hate speech at the school environments.

Keywords:

Online hate speech, digital educational tools, media literacy.