On March 4, the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting presented its Recommendations for Media on Preventing Hate Speech and Discrimination.

Olena Zaslavska, Executive Director of the Zionist Federation of Ukraine, took part in the event. During the discussion, she asked about the Council’s experience in responding to antisemitic comments on social media.

Herasymiuk, the head of the National Council, responded that some of these comments may be posted by bots, though the involvement of real users cannot be ruled out.

“Many of those writing such comments are bots, although we cannot exclude real people who are capable of this. We do, of course, document such cases. However, I cannot say that we are seeing any kind of mass surge of such behavior. At the same time, even a single comment can traumatize a person, and that is unacceptable. I want to assure you that we are paying attention to this. If there are specific examples, we would appreciate them being reported to us,” she said.

The new recommendations are part of the regulator’s broader effort to implement the Law of Ukraine “On Media.” The document is intended to help media outlets avoid spreading discriminatory statements and hate speech, and to comply with legal requirements. The recommendations were developed with expert support from the Council of Europe.

The law prohibits the dissemination of statements that incite hatred, hostility, or violence against individuals or groups based on ethnic or social origin, citizenship, nationality, race, religion or belief, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

You can view the recommendations via the provided link.