Episode 10: LGBTQ+ Related Hate

In this episode we bring together two organisations doing wonderful work in the field of hate speech and diversity. We will be zooming in on LGBTQ+ related hate, and dive into an upcoming conference hosted by INACH on this topic.

Tamás Berecz is an expert in the field of sociology and criminology. His main fields of research have been the media, specifically the racist tendencies towards the Roma in the Hungarian and international press. He was also heavily involved in the analysis of anti-terrorist legislation and its conflicts with human rights in Western democracies.

Since the beginning of 2016, Mr. Berecz has been working at INACH, collecting data, and conducting research on hate speech online. He co-wrote multiple papers on cyber hate and compiled studies on disinformation and conspiracy theories.

Eglė Kuktoraitė joined the National LGBT rights organization LGL in 2014 and assumed the role of Communication Manager. She is responsible for LGL's communication activities, as well as activism, advocacy, and fundraising. Eglė is an expert in inclusive education and has been at the forefront of LGL’s activities countering bullying and hate speech in Lithuania. Eglė was one of the organizers of the Baltic Pride festival in Vilnius in 2016, 2019 and 2022.

Eglė has been involved in the social media monitoring process since 2017. Since then, she has reported thousands of comments to the social media platforms. According to Eglė, social media reporting is one of the quickest and most gratifying processes to achieve progress in hate speech awareness. Every year, the results of reporting are plain to see in the social media as users in Lithuania are becoming more aware that platforms will not tolerate hate speech. Eglė will share her experience, insights about Lithuanian discourse on social media when it comes to LGBT persons, and lessons that she learned while reporting hate speech comments.