scholarly journals The Discriminatory Legalism Strategy and Hate Speech Cases in Poland. The Role of the Commissioner for Human Rights in Fighting Discrimination

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Elżbieta Demczuk
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Modern Democracy ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Views ◽  
Lgbt Community ◽  
The Public Sphere

<p>The regress of liberal democracy in the world has been progressing for years and the number of countries with the full democracy index is decreasing [Economist Intelligence Unit 2018, 2019; Freedom House 2018]. One of the serious threats to the rule of law and the human rights in modern democracy has become discriminatory legalism which is both strategy and weapon [Weyland 2013]. In order to weaken or marginalize the opposition and “rebellious” citizens, public authorities apply discriminatory legal instruments and democratic rules depending on who they are concerned with. Public authorities do this because of political views and use exclusion rhetoric, a language of hatred, stigmatizing all “strangers”, at last use hate speech on the Internet and beyond. The weaponization of hate speech is a convenient instrument for political struggle and the fight against inconvenient opponents. Hate speech is also used by far-right and nationalist organizations in the public sphere, which operate in an atmosphere of consent to their radical behaviour. Political hate speech plays an important role in the discriminatory legal strategy. Poland is included in the group of countries with flawed democracy (Article 7(1) TEU since 2017). The authorities introduced changes in law (which were defied as the “Frankensteinisation of legislation” by the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe [PACE] in 2019), democratic institutions and the prosecution applies a discriminatory legalism strategy. This problem is highlighted by the current Commissioner for Human Rights which is an independent institution in the field of fighting hate speech (except a few independent media and NGOs informing about the hate speech phenomenon). Many of hate speech cases are discontinued or not taken up by the prosecution. The numbers of cases of hate speech and hate incidents are increasing but the Polish authorities use the underreporting mechanism. The Ombudsman warns that only 5% of cases are reported to the police. The language of hatred and contempt used by the authorities in Poland has become the weaponization in the fight against citizens as political opponents: LGBT+ community, refugees, political opponents, independent judges and others.</p>

scholarly journals Makna Teks Ujaran Kebencian Pada Media Sosial

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Dita Kusumasari ◽  
S. Arifianto
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Comparison Theory ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Views ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Political Economic

 Public sphere in social media, which should be used for information exchange, science, also democratic and independent values, currently are partially replaced by certain political economic matters. The public sphere has shifted into media of spreading hate speech. For that reason, this study aims to explain the meaning of the use of public sphere for presence of hate speech texts which are constructed to attack others with differing ideological and political views; also describes factors that affect the use of hate speech. This study applies phenomenological approach to the text of speech hate on social media and its critical impact in Indonesia. Data collection is done through observation, comparison theory, and literature studies. By referring the concept of Habermas (1989) related public sphere, supported by expert statements and qualitative data; conclusions of this article show that public sphere in social media is no longer functioning as a communication media, where thought and knowledge are exchanged for values in a dialogical, independent and democratic way. Its existence has partially replaced by capitalist economic forces and pragmatic politics in order to achieve certain goals instantly, at the expense of its values and social cultural ethics. Ruang publik pada media sosial, yang seharusnya berfungsi sebagai tempat pertukaran gagasan dan ilmu pengetahuan dengan nilai-nilai secara demokratis dan independen, sebagian kini telah tergantikan oleh kekuatan ekonomi politik tertentu. Fungsi ruang publik tersebut kini telah bergeser sebagai arena penyebaran teks ujaran kebencian, yang menyebabkan audiens mengalami kesulitan dalam membedakan informasi yang akurat dengan teks yang berupa berita palsu, termasuk ujaran kebencian. Oleh karena itu, studi ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis makna teks ujaran kebencian yang beredar melalui saluran media sosial. Artikel ini menjabarkan penggunaan ruang publik atas hadirnya teks ujaran kebencian yang dikonstruksi untuk menyerang pihak lain dengan pandangan ideologi dan politik yang berbeda; serta menjelaskan faktor yang berpengaruh terhadap penggunaan teks ujaran kebencian. Penelitian ini menerapkan pendekatan fenomenologi terhadap teks ujaran kebencian pada media sosial dan dampak kritisnya di Indonesia. Pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui observasi, perbandingan teori, dan studi literatur. Dengan penjabaran yang mengacu pada konsep Habermas (1989) tentang ruang publik, didukung data kualitatif dan argumen lainnya, simpulan dalam artikel ini menunjukkan bahwa ruang publik pada media sosial bukan lagi hanya berfungsi sebagai arena berkomunikasi, tempat pemikiran dan pengetahuan dipertukarkan nilai nilai secara dialogis, independen dan demokratis. Keberadaannya sebagian telah tergeser oleh kekuatan ekonomi kapitalis dan politik pragmatis untuk mencapai tujuan tertentu yang bersifat instan, dengan mengorbankan nilai dan estetika sosial budayanya.

scholarly journals ESTIMATION OF EFFICIENCY OF STATE AUTHORITIES’ ACTIVITY

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 776-785
Author(s):  
I.Yu. Chazova ◽  
M.V. Israilov
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Public Interests ◽  
The Public ◽  
Fair Wage ◽  
Udmurt Republic ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Selection Of

The problem of increasing the efficiency of public administration is a key point that refutes or supports the methods and forms of power that are used, but only within the framework of efficiency criteria. The determining factor on this issue should be, first of all, socio-economic efficiency, that is, the universal consideration of public interests of Russian citizens. Taking into account the analysis of thematic sources on assessing the effectiveness of the public administration system, we can conclude that this category contains a combination of various results of managerial activity, both in the state and in the public sphere. The effectiveness of public authorities should take into account quantitative statistical indicators, but special attention should be paid to qualitative indicators, which should be assessed by the population of the subject of the Russian Federation. The purpose of evaluating the performance of public civil servants, heads of executive authorities is the introduction of an optimal and fair wage system both at the regional and federal levels. The article discusses the foreign experience of the CAF self-assessment model of public authorities, which is based on the selection of 9 criteria that correspond to the main areas that are taken into account when analyzing public authorities. Examples of evaluating the effectiveness of executive bodies in the Irkutsk and Kurgan regions are shown. The current and developed measure for assessing the effectiveness of the activities of executive bodies of state power and officials on the example of the Udmurt Republic is reviewed and analyzed.

scholarly journals SIGNIFIKANSI DAKWAH INKLUSIF NURCHOLISH MADJID BAGI MASYARAKAT INDONESIA

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-66
Author(s):  
Zaprulkhan Zaprulkhan
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Social Ethics ◽  
The Public ◽  
Religious Truth ◽  
Truth Claims ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Religious Disagreement ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Islamic Values

Articulation of religion in the public sphere of Indonesia is still much to be exclusive and puritan, unilateral in monopolizing the truth claims of religious truth, and intolerance towards various religious disagreement. Whereas in the context of a pluralistic Indonesian nation, whether of race, ethnicity, culture, class, and religion, religious messages should be delivered by inclusive proselytizing. Anyone who would articulate religious discourses in the public sphere of Indonesia, should ideally be through inclusive proselytizing. In the context of inclusive proselytizing, Islamic values such as justice (al-'adl), human rights, freedom (Hurriyah), democracy (Shura), universal benevolence (Khoir), egalitarian (Musawah), tolerance (tasamuh), balance ( tawazun), social ethics (morals), universal humanity (an-nas), as well as peace and safety contained in the doctrine of principle Islam but those are inclusive. Inclusive priciples could embrace all people regardless of race, culture, race, class, and even religion. This article is going to discuss the significance of Nurcholish Madjid‟s inclusive proselytizing for pluralistic Indonesian society.

scholarly journals FEATURES AND PROSPECTS OF AGILE APPLICATION IN THE ACTIVITY OF PUBLIC AUTHORITIES IN TERMS OF UKRAINE’S PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION TRANSFORMATIONS

2020 ◽  
pp. 139-151
Author(s):  
H. Mishenina ◽  
D. Pavlenko
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Agile Development ◽  
Electronic Interaction ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
The Public ◽  
Agile Approach ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Conceptual Foundations

The article is devoted to the study of conceptual foundations of the Agile management, the need and prospects for implementing its methods in the sphere of public authorities. Systemic shortcomings of traditional governance in public authorities hinder the effective, prompt solution of important tasks of local socio-economic development and the country as a whole, and do not respond quickly to changes in the external environment. Now, during the period of active transformation of social, economic, political systems caused by the COVID 19 pandemic, the speed and quality of digitalization of all processes play a significant role. In the future, such changes will only deepen, covering all areas of socio-economic relations. Emphasis is placed on the processes of reforming the sphere of public administration and local self-government, in particular in terms of digitalization of public administration elements. The analysis of preconditions of active use of flexible methods of management in the public sphere is carried out. The introduction of the Agile technologies to project-oriented structures of public authorities is argued. The essence and practical aspects of effective application of Scrum methodology are considered, and the scheme of its introduction to work of bodies of regional management and local government is offered. The article analyzes the experience of practical application of the Agile approach in the public sector in some countries of the world (such as Great Britain, USA, Australia) and defines the basis for further «State Agile» development in Ukraine. The relevance of further the Agile approach popularization in public administration is confirmed by the need for changes in public-management relations, and prospects for the public digitalization in the following areas such as: development and implementation of a strategy for digital transformation of regions; implementations of digital solutions for increasing the public authorities' efficiency; ensuring electronic interaction between national, regional and local registries; digital democracy development, and so on.

The Electronic Surveillance of Public Assemblies

2011 ◽  
pp. 59-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haralambos Anthopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Data Protection ◽  
Electronic Surveillance ◽  
Combined Analysis ◽  
The Public ◽  
European Court ◽  
Political Views ◽  
Protection Legislation ◽  
The Right ◽  
Shed Light

The electronic surveillance of public assemblies has been an issue highly debated in the Greek public arena. The circumstances that brought this internationally contested topic in the public focus were the parliamentary introduction of Law 3625/2007 in Greece and the legislative enactment of an exemption from the data protection legislation for all police activities involving data processing during public assemblies. This paper will argue that the electronic surveillance of public assemblies affects both the privacy of political views (political privacy) and the activism (public anonymity) of a citizen. Along this line, the paper offers a combined analysis of the right to data protection [Art. 9A] and the right to free assembly [Art. 11] as acknowledged in the Greek Constitution (1975/86/01/08). As underlined, both rights constitute the basis for the protection of political privacy and public anonymity and preclude any legislatively posed limitations to their enjoyment. In the end, three key cases of the European Court of Human Rights shed light to the legitimacy of such a ‘panoptic’ surveillance of public assemblies.

The Freedom to Exclude: The Case of Israeli Society

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Tamir
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Israeli Society ◽  
Private Sphere ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Right

The phenomenon of social exclusion in Israel is a vivid demonstration of the Basic Laws' failure to fulfil their integrative role. Despite the ‘constitutional revolution’ and the Supreme Court's ongoing endeavour over the last two decades to instil a bill of rights through its jurisprudence, Israeli society has failed to fully internalise values of equality. In terms of legal jargon, individuals continue to claim and exercise ‘sole and despotic dominion’ over their private property in order to avoid contact with individuals belonging to certain minority groups. In many cases, such behaviour in the private sphere results in exclusion from the public sphere.This phenomenon is especially astonishing considering the fact that many laws in Israel apply the right of equality to the private sphere. Furthermore, the Israeli Supreme Court has developed comprehensive human rights jurisprudence applicable to the private sphere. The gap between the law in the books and the law in action illustrates that effective implementation of human rights in the private sphere cannot be achieved solely by specific legislation or by jurisprudence that is sensitive to human rights. This argument is backed by several recent bills which preserve and enforce the exclusion of minorities, particularly of Arabs, from the public sphere. These bills illustrate that exclusion is indeed a growing phenomenon in Israeli society that cannot be overlooked. Moreover, they underscore the urgent need to entrench a direct obligation to apply human rights to the private sphere at the constitutional level. This will be achieved only when Israel adopts a full constitution.

scholarly journals Aproximación a la regulación y contenido del derecho a una alimentación adecuada

2018 ◽  
pp. 183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Manuel Goig Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
National Level ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Right To Food ◽  
The Public ◽  
Guiding Principle ◽  
Derechos Humanos ◽  
Adequate Food ◽  
The Right

La alimentación adecuada constituye un derecho humano. Así lo han reconocido oficialmente la gran mayoría de los Tratados Internacionales sobre derechos humanos. Pero existe una gran diferencia entre que un Estado reconozca oficialmente la alimentación como un derecho fundamental en su constitución, o lo haga como un principio rector, puesto que ello dotará al derecho a la alimentación adecuada de una mayor protección, o lo convertirá en un principio de actuación de los poderes públicos. Se puede exigir a los gobiernos garantizar el ejercicio efectivo del derecho a la alimentación de conformidad con las disposiciones constitucionales para otros derechos humanos. Pero, la capacidad de la invocación indirecta de otros derechos humanos para lograr la protección efectiva del derecho a la alimentación en el plano nacional dependerá, en definitiva, de la interpretación jurídica que se haga de la Constitución.Adequate food is a human right. Thus the vast majority of treaties have officially recognized it human rights. But there is a big difference between that a State officially recognizes food as a fundamental right in the Constitution, or do it as a guiding principle, since this will provide the right to adequate food of greater protection, or the It will become a principle of action of the public authorities. You may require Governments to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to food in accordance with the constitutional provisions for other human rights. But the indirect invocation of other human rights capacity to achieve effective protection of the right to food at the national level will depend, ultimately, of the legal interpretation that is made of the Constitution.

scholarly journals Contesting algorithms: Restoring the public interest in content filtering by artificial intelligence

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 205395172093229
Author(s):  
Niva Elkin-Koren
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Fair Use ◽  
Content Filtering ◽  
The Public ◽  
Intelligence System ◽  
Dramatic Shift ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Democratic Principles

In recent years, artificial intelligence has been deployed by online platforms to prevent the upload of allegedly illegal content or to remove unwarranted expressions. These systems are trained to spot objectionable content and to remove it, block it, or filter it out before it is even uploaded. Artificial intelligence filters offer a robust approach to content moderation which is shaping the public sphere. This dramatic shift in norm setting and law enforcement is potentially game-changing for democracy. Artificial intelligence filters carry censorial power, which could bypass traditional checks and balances secured by law. Their opaque and dynamic nature creates barriers to oversight, and conceals critical value choices and tradeoffs. Currently, we lack adequate tools to hold them accountable. This paper seeks to address this gap by introducing an adversarial procedure— – Contesting Algorithms. It proposes to deliberately introduce friction into the dominant removal systems governed by artificial intelligence. Algorithmic content moderation often seeks to optimize a single goal, such as removing copyright-infringing materials or blocking hate speech, while other values in the public interest, such as fair use or free speech, are often neglected. Contesting algorithms introduce an adversarial design which reflects conflicting values, and thereby may offer a check on dominant removal systems. Facilitating an adversarial intervention may promote democratic principles by keeping society in the loop. An adversarial public artificial intelligence system could enhance dynamic transparency, facilitate an alternative public articulation of social values using machine learning systems, and restore societal power to deliberate and determine social tradeoffs.

scholarly journals Evangelicals at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 360-364
Author(s):  
Rene Urueña
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Top Down ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
The Public Sphere

Christian Evangelicals are a growing political force in Latin America. Most recently, they have engaged the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to challenge basic LGBTI achievements, such as same-sex marriage and other demands for equal rights. Several commentators thus speak of an imminent showdown between human rights protections and Christian Evangelism in the region, which would mirror similar conflicts elsewhere in the world. This essay challenges this narrative and warns against a top-down “secular fundamentalism,” which may alienate a significant part of the region's population and create deep resentment against the Court. As it turns forty, the Court faces a “spiritual” crisis: conservative religious movements have become one of its key interlocutors, with demands and expectations that compete with (but could also complement) those of other regional social movements. Difficult as it may be, the Court needs to be bold in creating argumentative spaces that allow for the Evangelical experience to exist in the public sphere in Latin America, in a context of respect for human rights in general, and for LGBTI rights in particular.

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