Young people urged to help tackle online hate

Published:  Fri 29 Jun 2018

Online hate speech is a growing problem, with abusive comments from peers one of the key causes of upset online for young people.

This is why SWGfL, a partner in the UK Safer Internet Centre, is working alongside six organisations in five countries to help deliver SELMA, a new two year partnership project that aims to tackle the problem of online hate speech by promoting mutual awareness, tolerance, and respect.

As part of the project, SWGfL is looking for young people in the UK aged between 15-18, to form teams and submit an idea about how to tackle online hate. The team with the best suggestion will be invited to develop and pitch their idea at the Hacking Hate hackathon in December.

The hackathon will see six teams from across Europe take part in a Dragon’s Den style competition at the Facebook Digital Learning Centre in Berlin on the 5th and 6th December, with all travel costs and accommodation covered by the SELMA partners.

The hackathon will bring together young people, teachers, parents, and other professionals and carers to "hack" online hate speech. It offers a fantastic opportunity for young people from across Europe to meet, learn new skills and share ideas on how to tackle online hate speech.

For more information on SELMA, the hackathon and how to take part, visit the SELMA "Hacking Hate" hackathon page and keep up to date on Twitter using the #hackinghate.

Tags

‘On-demand premium access’ to children’s suffering as gangs reap profits from online sexual exploitation

‘On-demand premium access’ to children’s suffering as gangs reap profits from online sexual exploitation

Government pledges to use ‘full power of the British state’ to crack down on child sexual abuse as commercial sites profiting from exploiting children double in a year.

23 April 2026 News
Children and victims of child sexual abuse are being ‘failed’, warns charity as EU found to host 63% of world’s criminal child sexual abuse webpages

Children and victims of child sexual abuse are being ‘failed’, warns charity as EU found to host 63% of world’s criminal child sexual abuse webpages

More child sexual abuse webpages are hosted in the EU than anywhere else in the world, according to new data released today by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF).

23 April 2026 News
‘Milestone’ moment for Utropolis as it joins IWF to help deliver a safer internet for children

‘Milestone’ moment for Utropolis as it joins IWF to help deliver a safer internet for children

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has welcomed a new Member, Utropolis, a next generation web filtering and digital safeguarding company.

20 April 2026 News