Resumen de Words Are Stones: Countering Hate Speech Among Young Generations in Europe
Michele Filippo Fontefrancesco
While the Media and Information Literacy (MIL) City’s framework highlights the objectives of globalsocial inclusion using digital tools and resources, the phenomenon of online hate speech poses agrave threat. To provide policymakers, professionals, and educators with fresh insight into this phenomenon;this chapter presents the results of the research conducted within the European project“Words are Stones.” Through a campaign of focus groups conducted in eight European countries(Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Italy, Romania, and Spain) in 2018; the researchhighlighted the low level of digital awareness and scarce digital empathy that characterize theuse of digital media among young adults. These elements create fertile ground for hate speech. Tobuild functional MIL cities, this chapter advocates for new initiatives that promote full and matureMIL among so-called digital natives, to help: 1) understand the deep interconnection and interactionbetween online and offline spaces in everyday life, 2) raise awareness on the phenomenon of hatespeech, and 3) explain the contributions that MIL stakeholders, such as families, schools, and NGOs,can have in preventing and alleviating hate speech.
