In Poland, an intensifying tendency to use hate speech and more and more numerous incidents of aggression motivated by racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and other kinds of intolerance can be observed. Another and serious problem is insufficient reaction to the phenomena from public institutions. In view of the growing presence of hate speech and aggression motivated by prejudices, it is necessary to take actions to condemn the incidents and raise awareness among both citizens and law enforcement agencies on their high social danger.
The aim of the project was to increase the number of interventions concerning hate speech through supplying citizens with a simple tool for reacting to such incidents. As a result of the activities undertaken under the project, a portal was created where citizens can easily report cases of hate speech, which led to several hundreds of interventions. Under the project, the portal www.zglosnienawisc.otwarta.org was launched, serving as a tool to report hate speech and acts. Using a simple form, every citizen can react to hatred and report statements from the Internet, newspapers or the public space. For the Association, the portal forms a tool helping to supervise the interventions undertaken and diagnose social climate. The Association also led its own monitoring of hate speech and acts through analysing the Internet and newspapers. Under legal intervention activities, 420 incidents and 52 complaints were reported to public prosecutor offices. In addition, over 80 Internet pages were reported to administrators, and 15 appeals were submitted concerning hateful incidents. A guidebook for law enforcement agencies was also prepared on the forms of discrimination and methods to combat them. The publication contains texts characterising crimes motivated by hatred against Romani people, Jews, black people, Muslims and LGBT persons. Free copies of the booklet were forwarded (also with the help of the partner) to police, prosecutor offices and non-governmental organisations. Also 30 expert opinions were prepared concerning the legal thinking behind justifications for discontinuation of investigation or refusals to start investigation.
The role of the partner was to support us in disseminating the results of the project (including promoting the portal).
The project benefited 61 870 persons who visited the page www.zglosnienawisc.otwarta.org