IJC launches: “Don’t think we are stupid…!”

The IJC presents the second video of “The media doesn’t hate!” campaign. The video material refers to the manner in which the media write about disadvantaged persons, minorities, and how such messages are perceived by society.
The material refers to both media consumers and journalists, who are responsible for the opinions and attitudes that the public has when reading, listening or watching their media products.
Thus, the new video suggests to citizens that they should receive information carefully and be tolerant towards all members of society. The message addressed to journalists is that they should avoid any kind of discrimination in their materials and contribute to respect and promotion of human rights. Or, as one of the video’s characters, uncle Grigore, says: “The only thing I want is that they don’t think we are stupid!...”
“The media doesn’t hate!” campaign conducted by the IJC included several activities. A group of moderators and journalists received training on moderation of online media content and correct media coverage of sensitive topics.
To evaluate hate speech, the IJC monitored the comments posted by netizens on 15 information portals. Also, a group of students from journalism departments of the Moldova University of European Studies and of the Moldova State University were familiarized with how hate speech manifests and what sanctions the national legislation stipulates in this sense.
The video was produced as part of the “Combating hate speech in online media and social networks” project implemented by the IJC with the financial support of partner organization Civil Rights Defenders, Sweden.