UNiting Against Hate

Costa Rica is known for its strong democracy, pro-human rights stance, and deep respect of the rule of law, so it was a shock when the 2018 general elections ushered in an unprecedented polarization of Costa Rican society.

This shift was accompanied by a sharp rise in hate speech and expressions of discrimination and xenophobia.

In the last episode of this season of UNiting Against Hate, Katy Dartford looks at the ways that the country, with strong support from the UN, decided to confront the problem.

It's common to hear that the world has never been more interconnected. But at the same time, it's never been easier to share differences of opinion and spread misinformation, hate speech and information that divides and causes fear and mistrust.

However, there is an age-old method of building trust between opposing societies, communities, and people: intercultural dialogue.

There is concern amongst human rights experts and activists that hate speech is becoming more prevalent, with views once perceived as fringe and extreme, moving into the mainstream.

This episode of UNiting Against Hate features Tendayi Achiume, the outgoing UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, and Jaroslav Valůch, who is the project manager for fact-checking and news literacy, at Prague-based media development organization “Transitions”.

According to leading international human rights organization Minority Rights Group (MRG), there was a 400-fold increase in the use of hate terms online in Pakistan between 2011 and 2021.

In this episode of UNiting Against Hate, Katy Dartford speaks to activists from MRG, and two partner organizations: Pakistan-based think tank Bytes for All, and Iraq-based Kirkuk Now.