Dr. Tarlach McGonagle (IViR) gave a keynote speech on hate speech at a conference of European national equality bodies in Rome on 19 November. The conference, ‘Not on our watch! Equality bodies fighting hate speech’, was organised by the European Network of Equality Bodies (Equinet) and the National Office against Racial Discrimination (UNAR).

McGonagle also gave a keynote lecture on online hate speech at a conference organised by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission in Dublin on 28 November. The conference was titled: ‘A More Social Media: Human Rights and Equality in the Digital Public Sphere’

A report on the conference, including interviews, was broadcast on RTE Radio 1’s Drivetime programme on 28 November. The feature begins at 2 hrs 8 mins and 50 secs. The conference was also covered by The Irish Times and other news media.

Hate speech was also one of the focuses of McGonagle’s invited ‘Impulse Statement’ at the European Commission’s Annual Colloquium on Fundamental Rights in Brussels on 27 November. He spelt out some of the threats posed by hate speech and online disinformation for pluralistic public debate and free and fair elections. The focus of this year’s Colloquium was ‘Democracy in the EU’.