There is a need to establish a strategy to address hate speech and hate crimes, with the participation of all competent authorities and civil society with an emphasis on education, enlightenment and strengthening public dialogue in terms of respect and inclusion, Commissioner for the Administration and Protection of Human Rights, Maria Stylianou Lottides said on Wednesday.

Lottides issued a written statement on the occasion of the international day for combating hate speech.

At the same time, she announced the launch of a new information campaign aimed at dismantling all hate speech and fake news.

Lottides said the need to establish such an international day “did not come about by chance”.

“It was the result of resistance to a discourse that not only aims at the dignity of every person but mainly risks, through repetition, their physical integrity by transforming the violence of speech into the exercise of physical violence and/or the incitement of such violence. Hate speech is not simply a phenomenon of speech, but the expression of prejudice, racism and intolerance,”.

Lottides said her office had repeatedly highlighted the seriousness of the phenomenon, through reports focusing on hate speech on the internet, highlighting the need to take measures in both public and online discourse and promoting the importance of institutional and social zero tolerance.

Targets include the LGBT community and other vulnerable groups, she said.

“June 18 is not just another symbolic day… It is an occasion to reaffirm our commitment to a society where speech does not become a weapon, but a tool of communication, understanding and democratic coexistence,” Lottides concluded.