CYIL vol. 14 (2023)

HARALD CHRISTIAN SCHEU CYIL 14 (2023) Besides Articles 4 and 6, Article 9 FCNM is the third relevant provision related to hate speech. Although this provision essentially deals with the access of minorities to various media and the right to receive and impart information in the minority language, it also touches on the obligation of States Parties to promote tolerance and permit cultural pluralism in the media landscape. Since the Internet and its effect on majority and minority media were not yet explicitly addressed in the text of the 1995 Framework Convention, there is a relatively wide scope for dynamic and progressive interpretation on this issue. Günther Rautz and Mahulena Hofmann rightly pointed out that in the course of the Advisory Committee’s monitoring activities, the significant impact of the Internet on the situation of persons belonging to national minorities increasingly came into focus. They also noted that issues of hate speech “and other persecution of minority members on the Internet” are of growing importance. 40 In its 4 th opinion on Kosovo, the Advisory Committee found that while compliance of traditional media with codes of ethics were monitored by professional associations, online media and news portals were not regulated. Noting that hate speech and unethical language were present online, including on social media, the Advisory Committee commended the efforts of a non-governmental organization addressing ethical standards in this area. 41 In its 4 th opinion on the United Kingdom, the Advisory Committee, on the one hand, explicitly recognized “the delicate balance to be struck by the authorities between freedom of expression and hate speech”, but on the other hand stressed the importance of “ethnic journalism” supported by regular training of journalists and access of persons belonging to national minorities to the media. 42 We may conclude that the Advisory Committee raises the issue of hate speech on various occasions, fully aware that certain public statements can have harmful effects on national minorities. From the point of view of FCNM monitoring, hate speech can be seen as a problem of discrimination when it excludes persons belonging to national minorities from effective participation in social life. Hate speech further concerns the duty to protect persons who may be exposed to threats or acts of discrimination, hostility, or violence because of their ethnic, cultural, linguistic, or religious identity. Thirdly, hate speech is also related to the prevention of discrimination in the field of traditional and new media. However, we must also note that the Advisory Committee has not yet developed a systematic and consistent approach clarifying, for example, the elements of hate speech, its distinction from offensive language protected by freedom of expression, and the nature of sanctions which should be imposed on those who distribute unwanted content. For this reason, we would like to make a few considerations on how the European protection of minorities could tackle the problem of hate speech in a more convincing way. 4. Final considerations and conclusions It has been a long road from the drafting of the first international human rights documents to the current monitoring procedures. In the past decades, there have been significant

40 RAUTZ, G., HOFMANN, M. Article 9. In: Hofmann R., Malloy T., Rein D. (eds.) The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Commentary . Leiden, 2018, pp. 189–204, 202.

41 See the 4th ACFC opinion on Kosovo (para. 68). 42 See the 4th ACFC opinion on the UK (para. 94).

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