COVID-19 and Hate: Insights and Resources

19/05/2020

We have been following the global crisis closely in our latest Facing Facts Online course and in CEJI’s policy newsletter KOL. We are therefore pleased to be able to share with you this curated list of resources and insights on human rights, hate crime, and hate speech in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Insights

Webinars/live events

Upcoming Events

LGBTI-phobia in the Time of Covid-19: the BCU Centre for Security and Extremism in partnership with International Network for Hate Studies is organising two special events on LGBTI-phobia in the time of Covid-19. The webinars will be open to the public and will feature speakers from key international institutions, government and civil society organisations. The second of two events, focusing on the United Kingdom and Europe, will take place on July 15th.

Past Events

ENAR and ARDI convened members and policymakers on May 25 14:00 CET for a webinar on the topic, “#CovidImpact on racialised communities.” Find the full recording here.
The Bard Center for the Study of Hate organized a webinar on May 13 titled “Hate and the Brain” which featured the renowned author and biologist, Robert Sapolsky. Find the full recording here. Robert Sapolsky’s book, “Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best And Worst,” is also a recommended read.
The Bard Center organized another webinar on April 17 15:00 EST titled “Hate and Covid-19.” The webinar featured Dr. Heidi Beirich – a longtime leader of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project. Find the full recording here.

Statements by International Bodies

In a statement on March 21 2020, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the UN Special Rapporteur on Racism condemned COVID-19-related expressions, urged states to take action against such expressions, and highlighted why it matters to name a phenomenon accurately.

Reports & Briefings

ENAR launched a new interactive map with key findings on the impact of COVID-19 on racialised communities. The interactive map and accompanying publication evidence widespread discrimination, hate crime and hate speech across Europe during the ongoing pandemic.
Open Society Foundation details the situation of Roma communities in six EU member states in a recent policy brief and argues for proportionate support for these communities.
ILGA Europe reports the negative impact response measures are having on LGBTI people and what authorities should be doing to mitigate these impact in a recent briefing note.
The Institue for Strategic Dialogue’s ‘Covid-19 Disinformation Briefing No. 1’ reflects on a range of implications of the coronavirus. We recommend reading Chapter Two which focuses on racism and xenophobia.
This European Union Fundamental Rights Agency’s bulletin 1, ‘Coronavirus pandemic in the EU – Fundamental Rights Implications’, details the human rights situation in the Member States in light of the pandemic and the restrictive measures implemented so far.
Hope Not Hate, a UK based organisation, is now preparing regular bulletins on the implications of coronavirus on the activities of the far-right under the title ‘COVID-19 and the Far-Right – Emerging Narratives’. The publication reviews a range of areas from conspiracy theories, the blame game and minority groups.
Antisemitism Policy Trust’s special briefing on ‘Antisemitism in the time of Coronavirus‘
Covid-19: How hateful extremists are exploiting the pandemic. The Commission for Countering Extremism (CCE) has published a report looking at the way in which extremists have sought to exploit the current pandemic in the UK. You can access the full report here
INACH report on hate speech and conspiracies during the Covid-19 pandemic
Never Again Association’s The virus of hate: Brown book of the epidemic

Articles

“The Coronavirus crisis has exposed China’s long history of racism” says Hsiao-Hung Pai in an opinion piece in The Guardian. Beyond highlighting the systemic racism Africans in China face, Hsiao-Hung Pai argues that the uptick in hostility against Africans during the pandemic “divert domestic frustration away from the ruling elite”.
Lehighvalleylive.com reports police reflections on underreporting of hate crimes in the time of COVID-19. The article talks about coronavirus-and the racist discourse around it-acting as a further deterrent to the reporting of hate crimes.
The Guardian reports on racism against Africans in China.

Hope not Hate reports that people seeking out information on the 5G controversy in Facebook groups will soon find themselves exposed to conspiracy theories tangentially related to 5G, that incite mistrust of the government, healthcare providers and scientists. Many of these theories are implicitly or explicitly antisemitic. The article is thus useful for reflecting on the changing context of crimes and potentially, antisemitic hate crimes during and after the pandemic.

‘We don’t need a map to tell us who COVID-19 hits the hardest in St. Louis’ an article by The Brookings Institution, articulates glaring trends in the impact of COVID-19 i.e. the disproportionate effect it has had on poverty-impacted communities. These trends have been witnessed across developed countries.
CPS Hate Crime Newsletter, Issue 25. The Crown Prosecution Service for England and Wales has released the June edition of its newsletter with a focus on the current pandemic, featuring Facing Facts recent course on hate crime monitoring in a time of global crisis.

Blogs and podcasts

In an episode of New York Times podcast The Daily, anti-Chinese racism in New York is drawn into focus together with an interesting personal account of the victim perspective.

Professor Mark Walters, Professor of Criminal Law and Criminology, University of Sussex, cautions an uptick in fear and hostility in an INHS blog post and calls for holistic actions to tackle hate incidents.

Resources

Newsletters

KOL Europe: A newsletter for Jewish communities with the latest on European policy developments, brought to you by CEJI – A Jewish Contribution to an Inclusive Europe. Subscribe here to receive the latest edition.

Control Alt Delete blog: A newsletter dedicated to the rise of far-right extremism, white nationalism disinformation, and online toxicity. It is delivered on a weekly basis to more than 16,000 subscribers. Subscribe here to receive the latest edition.

Online Courses

Facing Facts Online: Facing Facts offers online courses at the cutting edge of current issues and capacity building on hate crime and hate speech. View the full list of available courses here.

Hate Crime Monitoring

Sandy Schumann’s Blog: The Lecturer at the UCL Department of Security and Crime Science is collecting data, news reports, and studies about the connection between COVID-19 and hate crime in a new blog.

Hope not Hate monitors COVID-19 & Hostility: Find polling on public opinion on the virus, as well as reports and analysis on how individuals and groups are weaponising the pandemic to spread hate this here.
TellMAMA monitors anti-Muslim hate crimes during the pandemic: Find reports on here.

Database

Equinet database on responses to COVID19: The database contains all complaints received by equality bodies across EU member states during the pandemic.

Fighting Disinformation

The European Disinformation Observatory (SOMA): SOMA is a hub dedicated to building the capacity of fact-checkers, academics and researchers, media organisations, media literacy experts, and policymakers fighting disinformation. These stakeholders are welcome to join SOMA or access their publicly available materials.
From pandemic to infodemic: countering disinformation amid COVID19 presentation from the Council of Europe’s Information Disorder page

Guidelines & Recommendations

ILGA Europe guide to human rights obligations of states in the COVID-19 pandemic: Find the legal principles and human right laws EU member states must comply with in their response to COVID-19.
OHCHR Resources on COVID-19 & Human Rights: Find recommendation on the needs of specific groups of people and how to assist communities during the pandemic on this page.

True Vision COVID-19 resources for victims & communities: Find ‘easy read’ resources for people with learning disabilities, videos on reporting hate crime in various languages (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, etc.).
EU Coronavirus response: Find the latest on the European Union’s response to the COVID-19 crisis on this European Commission page.