Georgia’s Vice Prime Minister and State Minister for Coordination of Law Enforcement Agencies Mamuka Mdinaradze says offensive posts on social networks have significantly decreased 1.5 months after the launch of the Department for Combating Hate Speech.
Mdinaradze noted that while statistical data show positive trends, the department’s main goal is to change public behavior and prevent insults from becoming socially accepted.
“If we approach it statistically and look at numbers and figures, of course, offensive posts have significantly decreased, but our goal is that people do not accept insulting each other as the norm and do not establish it as a rule,” Mdinaradze said.
The Vice Prime Minister described the creation of the department as a positive step, saying that people should face legal consequences for hate speech and offensive behavior.
He added that the reduction in hateful and insulting content on social media demonstrates the effectiveness of the new policy.
“Posts expressing hatred and contempt on social networks, appeals, and so on have decreased. This is undoubtedly a very good decision, which will contribute to the normalization of relations between people,” Mdinaradze said.
The Department for Combating Hate Speech was launched 1.5 months ago as part of efforts to address offensive content and hate speech online.
On May 18, it was announced that the Ministry of Internal Affairs planned to establish a department to monitor “hate speech, offensive campaigns and aggressive communication” in public spaces and take legal action where necessary.
Critics of the ruling Georgian Dream party have raised concerns that the department could be used to restrict freedom of expression under the pretext of combating “hate speech.”
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