ABTTF President: “Hate speech targeting vulnerable groups and their members, including national minorities within the EU, constitutes a serious issue today, not only on social media but also in traditional print and broadcast media. In our country, prominent representatives of our community, rights defenders and organisations have been subjected to hate speech and unfounded accusations for years’’.
New Democracy (ND) Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Eleonora Meleti (EPP, Greece) submitted a question for written answer to the European Commission on the increasing phenomenon of hate speech on social media.
In her question for written answer, Meleti drew attention to the recent increase in hate speech and noted that this situation is incompatible with the principles of European culture and education and EU values. Meleti condemned the increasing number of racist, sexist and abusive verbal attacks on the internet, which victimise all people regardless of age, gender or any other characteristic, and called on the European Commission to take immediate action to combat this phenomenon and protect the victims and their mental health from such attacks.
‘‘It is important that MEP Meleti, who belongs to the ruling party of our country Greece, draws attention to the increasing hate speech on social media. Hate speech targeting vulnerable groups and their members, including national minorities within the EU borders, constitutes a serious issue today, not only in social media but also in traditional print and visual media. In our country, prominent representatives of our community, rights defenders and organisations have been subjected to hate speech and unfounded accusations for years. Even in the recent past, our Xanthi MP Hüseyin Zeybek was publicly threatened with death on live television. The European Commission should definitely take into account the racist and discriminatory hate speech against our community in our country in the steps it will take’’, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
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