Digital discrimination and hate speech online are situated at the intersection of multiple tensions. As a matter of fact they are the expression of conflicts between different groups within and across societies; they provide a vivid example of how technologies with a transformative potential such as the Internet carry both opportunities and challenges; and they imply the need for a complex balancing between fundamental rights and principles, including freedom of expression and the defence of human dignity.

Racism and discrimination are not new phenomena and although publicly condemned, are often privately and unknowingly tolerated in online contexts. They have undergone a transformation from visible to more latent forms and manifest in popular social networking sites (hereafter SNS). Young people, being the main users of these sites, are particularly affected by and exposed to racist and discriminatory contents that circulate through SNS in various forms such as images, videos, comments, messages and similar. Users can be easily misled since (disguised) forms of discrimination are hidden in false and politically correct discourses as I am not a racist, but… While taking into consideration how these sites constitute a powerful form of non-formal learning and recognizing how young people in particular are challenged by online racist contents, Anti-discrimination Pack 2.0 project is directed towards providing guidance and preparing youth workers to learn, use and share the Anti-discrimination Pack. More in detail, the project aims:

  • to share the methodology worked out during the project INTERNET: CREATIVELY UNVEILING DISCRIMINATION (I:CUD) and called Anti-Discriminiation Pack which has been created by CEPS SOCIALS PROJECTS;
  • to enable and support young people to become active and responsible digital users;
  • to help young people to assess and reflect on their own use of technology, make changes, challenge and combat digital discrimination.

The project provides a practical guide on how to unveil masked discriminatory practices by showing how to become creative prosumers who do not just passively consume discriminatory contents but actively produce material counteracting such conducts.

Six organizations from Spain, Cyprus, Germany, Poland, UK and: Dramblys (Coordinator); CEPS PROJECTES SOCIALS; C.I.P Citizens In Power; EureCons; Fundacja Zielony Slon and Kairos Europe Limited are working together to update the Anti-discrimination Pack, developing new tools to combat racism and discrimination online and designing new approaches to address social, ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity.

The project has been financed by the Erasmus+ programme, KA2 Strategic Partnership in the field of Youth (Ref. 2016-2-ES02-KA2015-008301).