Comments spurring hate speech against the LGBTIQ+ community are condemnable and authorities must intervene immediately to tackle the slew of latest complaints, Ombudswoman Maria Stylianou Lottides said on Tuesday.

She was reacting to a post by NGO Accept LGBTI sharing screenshots of comments after comments, wishing death to queer individuals, saying they should “all be shot”, beaten, buried in a ditch, or even turned into soap.

Lottides said the nature of the comments, found under news articles on social media or other posts, should not be tolerated or seen as isolated incidents.

“It is important and necessary that the severity of homophobic and transphobic cases are not undermined or covered up by describing them as ‘one off’s. They need to be recognised and treated for what they are so as to remind and stress the state’s zero tolerance policy over homophobic / transphobic crimes.”

The ombudswoman added she had studied the online posts and reached the conclusion that they contained opinions and positions that irrespective of their intention, were condescending and offensive towards certain groups.

They also cultivated negative stereotypes and hatred against those groups, she said.

Additionally, extreme hate speech and racism is observed quite frequently in Cyprus which can be observed in the number and nature of reports filed to the ombudswoman’s office, she highlighted.

They largely concern racist and xenophobic rhetoric found online either in posts or in comment sections.

Lottides added the human rights of LGBTIQ+ members are non-negotiable while punishment for hate crime should be strict and serve as a deterrent. Social media spreads such messages like wildfire and increases the risk of repeating such behaviours.

“According to the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the enshrined right to freedom of expression, which constitutes one of the main pillars of a pluralistic and democratic society, is not absolute. It is subject to limitations expressly provided by law and its limitation is considered necessary to serve specific purposes, one of which is the protection of ‘the reputation or the rights of other persons’,” she noted.

Lottides sought to stress that mass media has a huge role to play in battling hate speech, as do the police in combating the phenomenon.

Discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity are extremely harmful to human dignity, as it hits at the very core of the human condition and equality, violating essential human rights. These violations are highly dangerous for every person and democratic society, she concluded.