Tolerance and dialogue against hate speech

CACAK - The Serbian Ministry of Youth and Sport has started a campaign and initiated the creation of a national committee for battling hate speech on the Internet, and the central event of this project, entitled Using Tolerance and Dialogue against Hate Speech, was held in Cacak, central Serbia, on Tuesday.

The speakers at the conference, being held on Safe Internet Day, included officials of religious communities, Roma organizations and local government.

State Secretary for Youth and Sport Nenad Borovcanin said the battle against hate speech was above all an initiative by young people supported by the ministry.

It is very important to deal with the roots of hatred at the very start and spread tolerance and dialogue in order to achieve the best possible environment for life, Borovcanin stated.

"It is necessary to work on supressing political, religious and national hatred, as well as conflicts between groups of sport fans, while spreading tolerance, mostly among youngh people. We have to compete through dialogue and ideas, instead of fights," he stressed.

City councillor in charge of sport and youth Nemanja Trnavac said he supported the ideas by the young people that would make their voice heard in Cacak. The city opened a youth office, adopted a youth action plan and set the foundation for a good policy regarding this part of the population, he noted.

"I am proud that my city was picked to host the central event. I believe this is only the beginning and that we will have more of such activities in the future," campaign activist and one of the initiators of the conference Andjelka Matijevic remarked.

Photo Tanjug Video, camera operator Gvozden Nikolic

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