This international conference seeks to explore the multifaceted nature of online hate speech and hate crime, with a focus on understanding their root causes, socio-political drivers, and real-world impacts. It aims to critically examine the digital environments—such as social media platforms, online forums, and algorithm-driven ecosystems—that enable the rapid spread and normalization of hate speech.

Programme

09:00

Welcome Remarks

09:05 – 09.30

09:30 - 11:00

Parallel Sessions

Wintercircus

Session 1 : Governing Hate Online: Law, Responsibility, and Platform Power

Chair : Eliza Bechtold, University of Oxford

Wintercircus

De Krook

Keynote Speech

Gavin Phillipson & Robert Mark Simpson, University of Bristol Law School Harmful Speech Online: Five Models of Platform Regulation

Lavinia Pedol, University of Milan From Online Hatred to Violence: The Architecture of Digital Hostility and the EU’s Juridical Response

Stephanie Reynolds, University of Liverpool Profiting from Hate or Participating in Debate? Critiquing Elon Musk’s Unique Political Reach as Owner-User of X

Cristiano d’Orsi, University of Johannesburg. Hate Speech in Italian Sport: The Case of Paola Egonu and the Growing Role of Populist Leaders

Chair: Dr. Eliza Bechtold, University of Oxford

Katherine Brown, Elizabeth Pearson & Jessica White, University of Birmingham / University of London / Royal United Services Institute Hate Ecosystems and the Centrality of (Anti)Gender: Identifying the Problem and Potential Solutions

Elizabeth Pearson, University of London Emergency Meeting 63: Extreme Misogyny, Andrew Tate, and the Stoking of Collapse

Gwenaëlle Bauvois, University of Helsinki Weaponized Sisterhood: How Far-Right Feminist Groups Co-opt Women’s Rights to Fuel Polarization and Violence

Katrien Jacobs & Katelijne Lievens, Independent Scholars Anti-Gender Coalitions and Populist Attacks on Sex Education in Belgium

Chair: Dr. Qingxiu Bu, University of Sussex

Kezban Karagoz, Utrecht University Journalism in Exile: Resistance and Vulnerability under Hate Speech

Carla Sentí Navarro, Human Rights Institute, University of Valencia Beyond Hate: Disinformation Targeting Minorities and the Erosion of Democratic Debate

Juliana da Cunha Mota, University of Oxford Fact-Checking as a Tool to Tackle Hate Speech

Benjamin Nangle, KU Leuven Human, Wholesomeness, and Rhetorical Softening within the Affective Ecology of Far-Right Instagram

Session 2 : Populism and Digital Polarization: The Politics of Online Hate

Chair: Juliana da Cunha Mota, University of Oxford.

Elif Erol, Hrant Dink Foundation Hate Speech in Times of Crisis: Digital Discourse and Real-World Consequences in Turkey

Qingxiu Bu, University of Sussex Digital Legal Nationalism, Foreign Firms, and the Regulation of Online Hate Speech in China

Allysa Czerwinsky, University of Manchester Generating the ‘Threatening’ Other: Visual Reconstructions of Hateful Rhetoric in @EuropeInvasionn’s AI-Generated Images

Luz Helena Orozco y Villa, University of Oxford Violence Against Women in Politics and Digital Expression: Lessons from Mexican Electoral Law

Session 3 : Emotions, Psychology, and the Human Experience of Hate

Session 4 : Global and Comparative Perspectives on Hate Speech

09:30 - 11:00

Chair: Coskun Yorulmaz: Human Rights Lawyer

Ibrahim Kurt, Society of European Scholars Digital Populism and the Legitimization of Hate: Communication Strategies, Social Cohesion, and the Role of Online Platforms

Stephane Baele & ewys Brace, UCLouvain / University of Exeter Introducing the HARDGORE Project: Charting the Gore Digital Ecosystem and Its Role in Mixed, Unclear and Unstable Extremism

Sahil Lohia, Jamia Hamdard University Digital Hate to Real World Harm: Online Platforms, Populist Leader Rhetoric and the Escalation of Hate Crime

Francesca Cassano, University of Milan Positive Obligations and Online Hate Speech before the ECtHR: Protection or Chilling Effects?

11:20 - 12:50

Chair: Zoë Grossi, KU Leuven

Silva Heinonen, KU Leuven The More Sensitive, the More Susceptible? Threat Sensitivity, Emotions, and Attitudes in Response to Social Media Threat Framing of Immigration

Rachel Worthington & Sören Henrich, Manchester Metropolitan University Perspectives from Forensic Psychology: Understanding the Psychological Mechanisms of Digital Communication to Combat Online Hate and the Transition to Real-World Violence

Aneta Szarfenberg, Maria Grzegorzewska University From Label to Harm. How hate speech against individuals associated with the Gülen movement turns presumptions into the basis for legal-administrative decisions and leads to real-world harms

Soraya Afzali, Trinity College Dublin Digital Platforms as Tools for Influence and Polarised Politics

Session 5: Gendered Hate and Online Misogyny: Narratives, Movements, and Countervoices

Session 6: Media, Journalism, and Countering Hate Narrative

13:50 - 15:20

15.40 - 17.10

Wintercircus

Wintercircus

De Krook

17:10 - 17.30

Closing Remarks

11:20 - 12:50

Wintercircus

Plenary Sessions

The morning parallel sessions will be held at De Krook (Miriam Makebaplein 1) and Wintercircus (Lammerstraat 13) between 9.00-12.20. The afternoon plenary sessions will take place at Wintercircus, between 13.50-17.10.

PARTNERS