UNESCO - MIL in Lebanon and Kyrgystan - and hate speech

A couple of news releases from UNESCO reporting on Media and Information Literacy initiatives:
UNESCO. (2026, July 9). Walk Into Truth: Youth from South Lebanon Strengthen Critical Thinking and Media and Information Literacy. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/walk-truth-youth-south-lebanon-strengthen-critical-thinking-and-media-and-information-literacy

UNESCO. (July 23). Youth capacities in media and information literacy for peacebuilding enhanced in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/youth-capacities-media-and-information-literacy-peacebuilding-enhanced-osh-kyrgyzstan

Also a fairly recent publication:
Roksa-Zubcevic, A. (2026). Media and information literacy: combating hate speech in the digital age.  https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000398298?posInSet=1&queryId=0e9a466e-b510-4d4f-9c90-b17b7ecc3913
Photo by Sheila Webber: roses, July 2026

Media and information literacy: combating hate speech in the digital age

Today is United Nations International Day for Countering Hate Speech. UNESCO has organised a webinar today (18 June) at 13.30 CEST (12.30 BST) Countering Hate Speech in the Digital Age: Promoting Information Integrity and Resilient Societies. Short notice, but I only just found out about it. "The event will bring together experts to discuss current challenges and responses to hate speech in digital environments, including the role of Media and Information Literacy in fostering inclusive and resilient societies" 
Register at https://unesco-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RmmOuj6OQ1O10SkETpVldw#/registration

However, if you can't make the webinar you can look at the new 16-page publication it is launching: 
Roksa-Zubcevic, A. (2026). Media and information literacy: combating hate speech in the digital age. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000398298? 
It sets out the issues and then looks at a MIL response and makes recommendations. 
Not its main purpose, but a useful bonus for this publication is a list at the end of some UNESCO MIL publications (e.g. the Prague Declaration, though unfortunately not the Alexandria Declaration) - UNESCO has moved them around over the years and they can be hard to track down.
Photo by Sheila Webber: Poppy, May 2026

Center for Countering Digital Hate

The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), which produces material and runs campaigns to highlight misinformation and hate speech in social media, has recently produced a TikTok parents guide. After looking at their material and doing a little googling it seemed to me that their material was worth considering if you are putting together guides and teaching material, but they do seem to have an agenda (though a left rather than right wing one - and they certainly don't like TikTok!) that might influence some of their material.

Image by Sheila Webber and Midjourney, created with prompt tiktok, monster, hate, fantasy style, pastels (as you may gather I have run out of new pictures of flowers, vegetables and trees: as spring is coming I should have more nature photos soon, though)

New articles: The disinformation society: The impact of fake news on the public sphere

The latest issue of open access journal Comunicar, (issue 72) has the theme: The disinformation society: The impact of fake news on the public sphere. It is available in English and Spanish (the link below to the whole issue is to the English version, but the individual links are mostly to the Spanish; click on the flags at the top to go to a different language) https://www.revistacomunicar.com/index.php?contenido=revista&numero=72&idioma=en
- Creators and spectators facing online information disorder. Effects of digital content production on information skills by Gabriela Taddeo | Belinda de-Frutos-Torres | María-Cruz Alvarado https://doi.org/10.3916/C72-2022-01
- Unraveling disinformation: Notions and discourses from the Spanish population by Lidia Valera-Ordaz | Marina Requena-i-Mora | Dafne Calvo | Guillermo López-García https://doi.org/10.3916/C72-2022-02
- Russian disinformation in Eastern Europe. Vaccination media frames in ro.sputnik.md by Andreea-Alina Mogoș | Teodora-Elena Grapă | Teodora-Felicia Șandru https://doi.org/10.3916/C72-2022-03
- Rhetoric of parliamentary disinformation on Twitter by Eva Campos-Domínguez | Marc Esteve-Del-Valle | Cristina Renedo-Farpón https://doi.org/10.3916/C72-2022-04
- Quality recognition as a prescriber against disinformation by Dolors Palau-Sampio | Adolfo Carratalá | Raquel Tarullo | Paz Crisóstomo https://doi.org/10.3916/C72-2022-05
- The life of COVID-19 mask memes: A diachronic study of the pandemic memescape by Marta Dynel https://doi.org/10.3916/C72-2022-06
- Virtual reality with distractors to overcome public speaking anxiety in university students by Emma Rodero | Olatz Larrea https://doi.org/10.3916/C72-2022-07
- Political hate speech of the far right on Twitter in Latin America by Enrique Díez-Gutiérrez | María Verdeja | José Sarrión-Andaluz | Luis Buendía | Julián Macías-Tovar https://doi.org/10.3916/C72-2022-08 - Smartphones in Higher Education. A longitudinal qualitative study by Irina Salcines-Talledo | Natalia González-Fernández | Laura Díaz-Herrera | Manuel Area-Moreira https://doi.org/10.3916/C72-2022-09
- Interdisciplinarity of scientific production on hate speech and social media: A bibliometric analysis by Antonia Ramírez-García | Antonio González-Molina | María-del-Pilar Gutiérrez-Arenas | Manuel Moyano-Pacheco https://doi.org/10.3916/C72-2022-10
Photo by Sheila Webber: ferns, May 2022

New articles: hate speech

The new issue of the open access journal Comunicar (vol 30 no. 71, 2022) has a focus on Hate speech in communication: Research and proposals. Articles are in English and Spanish - if you want to change the language, click the flag on the top right of the screen (e.g. a Union Jack for English). Articles are:
- Adolescents’ motivations to perpetrate hate speech and links with social norms by Sebastian Wachs, Potsdam (Germany), Alexander Wettstein, Berna (Switzerland), Ludwig Bilz, Senftenberg (Germany) & Manuel Gámez-Guadix, Madrid (Spain).
- Hate speech and social acceptance of migrants in Europe: Analysis of tweets with geolocation by Carlos Arcila-Calderón, Salamanca (Spain), Patricia Sánchez-Holgado, Salamanca (Spain), Cristina Quintana-Moreno, Salamanca (Spain), Javier-J. Amores, Salamanca (Spain) & David Blanco-Herrero, Salamanca (Spain).
- Hate speech analysis as a function of ideology: Emotional and cognitive effects by Natalia Abuín-Vences, Madrid (Spain), Ubaldo Cuesta-Cambra, Madrid (Spain), José-Ignacio Niño-González, Madrid (Spain) & Carolina Bengochea-González, Madrid (Spain).
- A systematic literature review of the representations of migration in Brazil and the United Kingdom by Isabella Gonçalves, Mainz (Germany) & Yossi David, Mainz (Germany).
- When negativity is the fuel. Bots and Political Polarization in the COVID-19 debate by José-Manuel Robles, Madrid (Spain), Juan-Antonio Guevara, Madrid (Spain), Belén Casas-Mas, Madrid (Spain) & Daniel Gómez, Madrid (Spain).
- Twitter and human trafficking: Purposes, actors and topics in the Spanish-speaking scene by Alba Sierra-Rodríguez, Granada (Spain), Wenceslao Arroyo-Machado, Granada (Spain) & Domingo Barroso-Hurtado, Cáceres (Spain).
- Special Education Teacher’s professional development through digital storytelling by Ozgur Yasar-Akyar, Ankara (Turkey), Cinthia Rosa-Feliz, Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Solomon Sunday-Oyelere, Luleå (Sweden), Darwin Muñoz, Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) & Gıyasettin Demirhan, Ankara (Turkey).
- Detection of traits in students with suicidal tendencies on Internet applying Web Mining by Iván Castillo-Zúñiga, Aguascalientes (Mexico), Francisco-Javier Luna-Rosas, Aguascalientes (Mexico) & Jaime-Iván López-Veyna, Zacatecas (Mexico).
- Booktokers: Generating and sharing book content on TikTok by Nataly Guiñez-Cabrera, Chillán (Chile) & Katherine Mansilla-Obando, Santiago (Chile).
- The relationship of Twitter with teacher credibility and motivation in university students by Facundo Froment, Sevilla (Spain), Alfonso-Javier García-González, Sevilla (Spain) & Julio Cabero-Almenara, Sevilla (Spain).
Go to https://www.revistacomunicar.com/index.php?contenido=revista&numero=71&idioma=en Photo by Sheila Webber: trees, Chapelgarth, March 2022