In this episode: – The online birthrate panic and the far-right’s gendered agenda – Misogyny, fertility myths, and the “Great Replacement” theory – Deepfake pornography and the exponential rise of digital sexual violence – A toolkit for bystanders: how to intervene and support victims – The urgent need for stronger prevention, policy, and platform accountability Brought to you by the European Observatory of Online Hate (EOOH) . Read more at www.eooh.eu and follow us on LinkedIn ....
Jun 20, 2025•27 min•Season 1Ep. 32
In this episode, we unpack the current state of play surrounding the Digital Services Act, following its first major year in force. This episode features insights from a special webinar held on 25 February 2025, with guests from: • HateAid – a leading civil society organisation working on platform accountability • CNAM – Ireland’s Digital Services Coordinator (DSC), responsible for regulating many of the world’s largest online platforms Together, we explore: • How platforms are responding to the...
Apr 10, 2025•22 min•Season 1Ep. 31
In this episode, we examine how online hate doesn’t stay confined to the digital world—it spills over into real-life violence, and real-world events, in turn, fuel even more polarisation online. Key topics discussed: • The Amsterdam riots : How an online content escalated street violence, leading to arrests, injuries, and an international political reaction. • The UK riots of 2024 : Iman Atta from Tell MAMA UK explains how misinformation about an attack in Southport spread on social media, fuell...
Feb 17, 2025•41 min•Season 1Ep. 30
In this episode of Zooming in on Hate , we explore The State of the Digital Services Act (DSA) —Europe’s groundbreaking legislation aimed at creating safer and more transparent online spaces. We discuss: • The DSA’s impact so far, including early signs of reduced toxicity on mainstream platforms. • The challenges of regulating fringe platforms and the role of AI in monitoring hate speech. • Insights from civil society organizations across Europe and their evolving role under the DSA. • The intro...
Jan 24, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 29
We are joined by Teresa Barros-Bailey from Moonshot. Theresa, a project manager at Moonshot, shares insights from her diverse experiences countering violent extremism and hate. Initially focused on Salafi jihadism in Southeast Asia, Theresa has since worked on projects addressing violent Buddhist ultranationalism in Myanmar and Sri Lanka, and more recently, far-right extremism and INCEL ideology in North America. We discuss Moonshot’s interventions, such as working with local partners to offer p...
Sep 20, 2024•20 min•Season 1Ep. 28
We are joined by Peter Kovács from Subjective Values Foundation, an organisation based in Hungary that was founded in 2002. Peter, who has been with the organisation for nearly six years, discusses his work as the head of the project department, focusing on providing young people with opportunities to realise creative ideas, promoting cultural diversity, and supporting education for underprivileged youth. Peter shares insights into Hungary’s online media landscape, highlighting the challenges of...
Sep 04, 2024•15 min•Season 1Ep. 27
We are joined by Andrea Cox from Digital Intelligence. Together, we explore the work of her NGO, founded in 2017 in Slovakia, which focuses on promoting digital citizenship. Andrea emphasises the importance of using technology wisely and safely, integrating digital skills with the values needed to build a healthy society. We delve into the specific challenges Slovakia faces in combating online hate, especially the disconnect between how Slovaks perceive themselves as welcoming and the reality of...
Aug 28, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Disclaimer This podcast was recorded before October 7, 2023, and does not reflect the events that occurred on, and after this date. In this episode, we are joined by Tomer Aldubi from FOA (Fighting Online Anti-Semitism). Tomer provides an overview of FOA’s work, highlighting its efforts to combat online anti-Semitism since its establishment. FOA focuses on monitoring and removing anti-Semitic content across various online platforms and training volunteers to report harmful content. Tomer discuss...
Jul 25, 2024•18 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Lydia El-Khouri interviews Maia Feijoo from LICRA, the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism. Maia provides an overview of LICRA's work in France, highlighting its longstanding history since its inception in 1927, initially focused on anti-Semitism before expanding to combat all forms of racism. LICRA's activities include educational trainings in schools and police academies, legal support for victims of racism and anti-Semitism, and corporate trainings. Maia discusses the inters...
May 31, 2024•17 min•Season 1Ep. 24
In this episode we delve into the issue of image-based sexual violence with special guests Andrea Powell and Inês Marinho. Both guests are part of the Reclaim Coalition, a collective endeavour aimed at combating online image-based sexual violence. In the conversation, Andrea and Inês share their personal experiences as survivors and discuss the challenges and initiatives in addressing this pervasive problem. They highlight the lack of awareness, ineffective legal frameworks, and the normalisatio...
Apr 04, 2024•34 min•Season 1Ep. 23
In our interconnected world, hate speech and intolerance have become all too common, leaving many wondering: why do people hate? Delving into this pressing question, we recently sat down with Arun Mansukhani, a clinical psychologist based in Spain. Through our conversation, we explored the underlying reasons behind hate and discussed actionable steps to combat it effectively. Arun Mansukhani brings a wealth of expertise in trauma psychology and a deep understanding of human behaviour to our disc...
Feb 14, 2024•25 min•Season 1Ep. 22
In the latest episode of "Zooming In on Hate," we are joined by Louisa Klingvall from the European Commission, recorded live at INACH's Annual Conference. The dialogue provides a nuanced exploration of the European Union's role in combatting the complex issue of online hate. Louisa Klingvall has worked in the Fundamental Rights Unit of the European Commission DG Justice since 2012. Her main focus of work comprises fundamental rights aspects in the Commission's Digital Single Market files. In thi...
Nov 16, 2023•20 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Today, we are zooming in on Meaningful Compliance. We are being joined by Claire Pershan, the Mozilla Foundation ’s EU Advocacy Lead, currently stationed in Brussels, Belgium. Claire brings a wealth of experience, having previously served as Policy Coordinator at the EU DisinfoLab, focusing on monitoring mis/disinformation and influence operations. Before that, she worked as a Project Manager at Renaissance Numerique, a Paris-based think tank, where her focus was on content moderation and cyberv...
Sep 18, 2023•30 min•Season 1Ep. 20
In this episode we are joined by Rita Jonušaitė who works at EU DisinfoLab as Advocacy Coordinator. Previously Rita worked at the European Youth Forum as Policy and Advocacy Manager and prior to that at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania. At the moment Rita is also pursuing a degree in IP & ICT Law at KU Leuven university. Rita has been primarily following regulatory discussions around disinformation, including negotiations on the Digital Services Act and updated Code of Practice o...
May 30, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 19
In this episode we are joined by Martin Kováč , an Old Catholic priest, theologian, and the project coordinator and programme manager of the cultural-community centre Staré Lýceum in Bratislava. He is a leader of two inclusive Christian communities in Bratislava and Trnava, has dedicated his life to human and minority rights, and is an advocate for the acceptance and rights of LGBTQI+ people. Martin is a pioneer of interfaith dialogue in Slovakia and is dedicated to the rights of religious minor...
May 09, 2023•24 min•Season 1Ep. 18
In this episode we are joined by Benjamin Fisher, Program Director at the Alfred Landecker Foundation . The Alfred Landecker Foundation is an incubator for democracy in the digital age. The foundation uses technological advancements and comprehensive expertise for an open society, a contemporary remembrance of the Holocaust and other Nazi crimes and the fight against antisemitism, racism and group hatred. Benjamin focuses on developing and implementing initiatives with a digital portfolio and on...
Apr 25, 2023•23 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Our 16th episode is a very special one, focussing on online radicalisation and deradicalisation. This episode was recorded at the 6TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “CIVIC ACTORS IN CONFLICT" hosted by PDCS on November 9th in Bratislava, Slovakia. Our friend Marie Heřmanová hosted a very interesting panel discussion, looking into the world of online radicalisation and de-radicalisation, discussing trends, threats and solutions to explore the current developments of online mobilisation and radicalisati...
Mar 21, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 16
In this episode we are joined by Moussa Bourekba. He is a Research Fellow at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) and adjunct professor at Blanquerna Faculty of Communication and International Relations and at the University of Barcelona, where he teaches international relations in the MENA region, terrorism and violent radicalisation. Prior to joining CIDOB, he was junior research fellow at the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed, Barcelona). He also worked as a con...
Feb 21, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Welcome to the Holiday special of Zooming in on Hate. This past year has been a turmoil of events. And some pretty dark ones at that. We started the year off in a lockdown, of course there is still a war raging in Ukraine, there have been multiple hate crime shootings all over the world, and people are facing a cost of living crises we haven’t seen in years, wondering if they can even heat their homes this winter. Normally we would zoom in on those topics.. But this time, in the spirit of the ho...
Dec 23, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 14
In this episode, we speaking to Julia Mozer, EU Public Policy Manager at Twitter and Carlos Hernández-Echevarría Head of Public Policy & Institutional Development, Maldita Spain, about moderation strategies on Twitter, and how to utilise online communities to counter disinformation. This episode was recorded as a live webinar on the 20th of October. We all know that there have been some developments at Twitter since Elon Musk purchased the platform, so maybe some of the comments and findings...
Nov 14, 2022•58 min•Season 1Ep. 13
In this episode we are zooming in on the Council of Europe ’s actions to counter hate speech in Europe. We are joined by Menno Ettema , who is the Programme Manager at the No Hate Speech and Anti-Discrimination Cooperation unit, Anti-Discrimination Department of the Council of Europe. He was co-secretariat to the Experts Committee that drafted the Committee of Ministers Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)16 on Combating Hate Speech which was adopted in May 2022. In his function he brings together the or...
Nov 01, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 12
In this episode special episode we are zooming in on the killing of two men outside of a gay bar in Bratislava on the 12th of October in a suspected hate crime. We are joined by Lukáš Zorád , who works for Partners for Democratic Change Slovakia . Lukáš works on projects and initiatives dedicated to prevention of violent extremism, de-polarisation and strives to look for ways to create constructive dialogue and increase understanding between people of opposing values. He is also working with us ...
Oct 24, 2022•26 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Tamás Berecz is an expert in the field of sociology and criminology. His main fields of research have been the media, specifically the racist tendencies towards the Roma in the Hungarian and international press. He was also heavily involved in the analysis of anti-terrorist legislation and its conflicts with human rights in Western democracies. Since the beginning of 2016, Mr. Berecz has been working at INACH, collecting data, and conducting research on hate speech online. He co-wrote multiple p...
Sep 14, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 10
How can we disrupt terrorist organisations online? Are social media platforms doing enough? How can CSOs, NGOs and analysts help? In this episode we are joined by Anne Craanen from Tech Against Terrorism to discuss disrupting online terrorism. Anne Craanen is Senior Research Analyst at Tech Against Terrorism, researching Islamist terrorism, violent far-right extremism, the role of gender in terrorism, and counterterrorism policies. She also concentrates on OSINT analysis and has a background in ...
Aug 08, 2022•34 min•Season 1Ep. 9
The Great Replacement Theory is a white nationalist far-right conspiracy theory that has been inspiring violent attacks such as the Christchurch attack and the Buffalo shooting. In this episode we are joined by Jakob Guhl from Institute for Strategic Dialogue to zoom in on the Great Replacement Theory. Jakob Guhl is a Manager at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), where he mainly works with the digital research team. Jakob has co-authored research reports on Salafism, extreme right terro...
Jul 26, 2022•28 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Will the new EU Digital Services Act (DSA) have an impact on online hate and disinformation? What are the effects of this new legislation on social media users? What can we expect from the big platforms? In Zooming in on hate we bring together the brightest minds from Law Enforcement, Academia, Civil Society, Policy, Tech and Platforms to thrash out solutions to Hate Speech and Disinformation. In this episode we were joined by Līva and Josephine from HateAid to discuss the Digital Services Act. ...
Jul 11, 2022•37 min•Season 1Ep. 7
This episode focuses on Open-source Intelligence & Fringe Social Media Platforms. We’ll meet with Amra Dorjbayar, data journalist at the VRT, and Olivier Cauberghs, radicalisation and terrorism expert at Textgain.
Jun 09, 2022•52 min•Season 1Ep. 6
This podcast delves into the current trends in the world of online influencers in and around the War on Ukraine. Who is getting it right and who is categorically not. Do governments have the right or a duty to steer their content production given the huge columns of disinformation and propaganda being generated by Kremlin bot farms and content production apparatus. The War on Ukraine is still raging as we record this podcast, and it is being mirrored online. There is an unprecedented amount of c...
Apr 25, 2022•24 min•Season 1Ep. 5
We were joined by Xavier Brandao, the co-founder of the #jesuislà collective, which counters online hate and disinformation. This podcast delves into the current trends we are seeing online in France, identifying particular hateful narratives. We discuss the impact of the war in Ukraine and foreign influence, especially that of Russia. We hear how the volunteers of I Am Here International are debunking disinformation, and finally, we end on a positive note, where Xavier explains how he would try...
Apr 15, 2022•26 min•Season 1Ep. 4
This second episode is focussed on the war in Ukraine. We’ll meet with Rafal Pankowski , the co-founder of the Never Again Association , to discuss the impact the war is having on Poland, and Emily Duffy , campaigner and trainer, to talk about reframing narratives surrounding the war in Ukraine.
Mar 29, 2022•57 min•Season 1Ep. 3
