Educational materials on hate speech and harmful rhetoric

Teikning af fjórum unglingum.

The Human Rights & Democracy Office has prepared educational materials on hate speech and harmful rhetoric in line with Reykjavík City's action plan against violence for 2022-2024. The materials are accessible to all but include practical exercises and discussion points for use in teaching upper primary school or secondary school students.

Stereotypes and prejudice

The concepts of stereotypes and prejudice are explained. Stereotypes are ideas we associate with certain groups and can be both positive and negative. All stereotypes can promote prejudice and hinder individuals from being evaluated on their own terms.

Democracy

Democracy means everyone has an equal right to influence how society is governed. The basics of democracy and how it appears in society are covered. Discrimination, prejudice and limitations in our social structure can prevent equal opportunities for all. Ensuring everyone can participate in discussions on equal terms is key to guaranteeing democratic participation.

Fake news and media literacy

Fake news refers to fiction shared as if it were fact, aiming to influence people's opinions. Social media and the internet make it easy to share information with many people instantly, but harder to identify the origin and validity of information.

Hate speech and harmful rhetoric

Hate speech includes hateful expressions directed at a well-defined group, associating it with undesirable traits and emphasizing its inferiority. Identifying hate speech can be tricky. It may be hidden in a seemingly logical and normal sentence, but on closer inspection contains degrading or hateful messages toward a specific group. Hateful messages can also be dangerous even if they don't reach the severity level of criminal hate speech. Such rhetoric is harmful to society and can lead to hate speech and hate crimes.

Videos

Here is a document with links to short videos about prejudice, stereotypes and hate speech.

Practical exercise

The exercise encourages participants to consider how hate speech develops, spreads and affects individuals and society.

Discussion points

Here are discussion points in the form of questions to use with the educational materials on hate speech and harmful rhetoric. Answers to the questions are also provided.

Further information

The Human Rights & Democracy Office provides more information about the educational materials.