European Commission Vice President for Promoting our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas, has confirmed this week that the European Union would adopt later this year a comprehensive strategy that will complement and support member states’ effort on preventing and combating antisemitism, educating on the Holocaust remembrance and fostering Jewish life in Europe.
Together with Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Schinas opened an high-Level Conference “Protection from racial discrimination and related intolerance” hosted by Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU, Francisco André.
In a panel discussion, Katharina von Schnurbein, uropean Commission’s coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life, addressed the issue of “Countering hate speech: the role of human rights education, history teaching and the media in countering it online and offline.”
She stressed the need to find new ways of teaching about the Shoah in a multi-cultural, digital society and for all actors to work together – European legislation, national enforcement, platforms and users – to address hate speech, including Holocaust denial and distortion online.