Combating Hate Speech : Journalists To Draw Road Map

Journalists from the Central African Region including Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe and Chad are in Douala from the November 28-30, 2023 to evaluate and advocate for an effective support to the regional strategy to combat hate speech and the incitement to hatred and violence. The official opening ceremony on November 28 saw the representative of the Minister of External Relations, Simon Pierre Omgba Mbida, emphasizing that the Cameroon government is working in synergy with other African countries in the region to combat hate speech.
He said the media is a vehicle for the transmission of hate speech. It was important for media practitioners to be sensitised on the dangers of hate speech, thus engaging them to a fierce fight against the phenomenon. Simon Pierre Omgba was aware of the disorder in the social media but remained optimistic that journalists have a great role to play in the sensitization and fight against hate speech.
He said the Douala Conference will permit the media practitioners to map out possible solutions that will be sent to the different governments for a possible legal framework that will be implemented in not only the region but Africa as a whole if possible. He added that hate speech is causing havoc in Africa and it was high time all put hands on deck to fight against hate speech and the expression of violence in the media.
On his part, the Regional Representative and Director of the United Nations Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa Nouhoum Sangaré explained that member States of the United Nations Permanent Advisor...