Annual report on monitoring local hate speech in the cities of Tetovo, Bitola and Shtip in 2021

The annual report on the hate speech situation at the local level in the cities of Tetovo, Bitola, and Shtip in 2021 is a final analysis of the hate speech situation prepared within the project “Joint Action against Hate Speech”.1 The project refers to the monitoring of hate speech in three local communities in Macedonia: Tetovo, Bitola, and Shtip. This report is based on an eight-month monitoring of hate speech on social networks, monitoring and analysis of sports fan groups activities, youth movements and associations, public events in the municipalities, graffiti writing, cultural events, and so on. The report gives a special focus on cyberbullying through a presentation of findings that detect the situation at the local level for this phenomenon in the three cities. Conclusions are analysed and recommendations are given for systematic recognition, identification, and solution of problems that cause violence, intolerance, impatience. The report also highlights a separate section that examines hate speech between fan groups at a local level in the three cities and presents findings, conclusions, and recommendations. As part of the project activities, the project team in cooperation with the local youth cores, located public areas with hate speech graffiti and removed them by writing messages of love, tolerance, and understanding. Within the Project, a mini online campaign was prepared and implemented to increase the awareness and sensitization of the public on the problem of hate speech and prejudice where the youngsters are in the main focus.