September 2026 was marked by renewed international attention to hate speech. At the UN Global Conference on Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue and Tolerance in Countering Hate Speech on 17 September, Secretary-General António Guterres warned that hate is “spreading fast and striking deep” through digital platforms, algorithms and artificial intelligence.
Platform accountability also came under pressure, as Amnesty International criticized Meta’s handling of anti-LGBTQ+ content in Hungary and the Oversight Board ordered the removal of a hateful AI deepfake targeting refugees. Across the EU, hateful narratives are becoming more common in political debate, from the “Great replacement” controversy in France to a violent far-right rally in The Hague.
In contrast, Hungary’s new government proposed removing Orban’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws with the Commission separately proposing to lift 4.2 billion Euros in suspended cohesion funding following its conclusion of Hungary addressing numerous rule of law-related breaches affecting the EU budget which had triggered the conditionality mechanism.
UN Global Conference on Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue and Tolerance in Countering Hate Speech
On 17 September, the United Nations held a global conference on the role of interreligious and intercultural dialogue in countering hate speech. It had three goals. The first was to show how dialogue and tolerance support social cohesion, peace, and development. The second was to raise awareness of existing initiatives in this field, in line with international human rights law. The third was to identify areas where practical action can be taken at every level of society. The expected outcomes were stronger engagement from Member States and other stakeholders, and new partnerships built around initiatives that have proven to be effective.
Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, called on governments, technology companies and civil society to act together, warning that hate speech is “spreading fast and striking deep”. He noted that it now spreads through digital platforms, algorithms and artificial intelligence. He added that racism, misogyny and xenophobia are increasingly openly celebrated, while antisemitism, anti-Muslim hatred and hostility towards religious and ethnic minorities are becoming normalized. On the balance with fundamental rights, he states that countering hate speech “does not mean extinguishing freedom of expression”, but that this freedom “must never be an excuse for causing or compounding harm”.
Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, speaking for the host country, set out five priorities:
- Teaching respect for difference from an early age, so that children learn to question stereotypes and resist incitement.
- Making interreligious and intercultural dialogue a regular part of social life.
- Holding political actors accountable for their words, in public debate, in the media and online.
- Linking dialogue to policies that promote fairness and equal opportunities.
- Improving prevention online through closer cooperation with digital platforms, so that hateful content is detected without restricting freedom of expression.
Khalilur Rahman, President of the General Assembly, focused on putting these commitments into practice. He named investment in education and media literacy, space for young people to lead, support for local communities and faith leaders, and accurate public information. He also called for closer cooperation between governments, tech companies, media, educators, civil society, and users.
Relevance: The conference reaffirms the UN’s human rights-based approach to hate speech, which treats freedom of expression and protection from harm as compatible goals. It also puts growing pressure on technology companies to take responsibility for the content on their platforms, a theme that comes up again in the EU-level developments later in this report.
Link · Additional source · Additional source – 17 September 2026, UN Headquarters, New York. Organized by the Kingdom of Morocco.
EU-UNESCO side event on information integrity in the Mediterranean
On 22 September, the EU and UNESCO held a side event at the UN general Assembly on protecting the Mediterranean information space from disinformation and hate speech. They pointed to conflicts, migration, political instability and new technologies as the main pressures on the region.
EU commissioner Dubravka Suica described information integrity as a matter of “peace, security and sustainability”. She highlighted the EU’s Pact for the Mediterranean (November 2025) which supports independent media, young journalists and media literacy. Mariya Gabriel (UNESCO) stressed that responses must reflect local realities as well as global principles. She pointed to UNESCO’s EU-funded Internet for Trust initiative, which has fed into UN frameworks on information integrity since 2023.
Relevance: The EU is extending its approach to online hate speech beyond its borders through partnerships, and it increasingly treats disinformation and hate speech as one democratic security issue.
Link – 22 September 2026, UNGA81, New York
Eradicate Hate Global Summit
More than 1,600 survivors, students, researchers, policymakers and practitioners attended the sixth Eradicate Hate Global Summit. They discussed emerging threats and effective ways to prevent hate-motivated violence. This year’s edition took place as concern about political violence grows and funding for prevention work declines.
Keynote speaker, Dr Alfred Garfinkle, a Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist, urged participants to “hate the action, but not the person”. Other speakers include Brian Fishman (OpenAI), civil rights advocate Van Jones and Sharie Redstone (Redstone Leadership Foundation). The day before, a Student summit brought together more than 650 students and educators from 43 schools, each of which received 1,000 to run student-led prevention projects.
Relevance: Hate speech often comes before hate-motivated violence. It dehumanises groups, makes hostility seem normal, and can end in physical attacks. The summit’s focus on prevention through education, survivor testimony and cooperation with tech companies reflect how most practitioners now tackle hate speech: at its root, not only by removing content once it is posted.
Link – 15-17 September 2026, Pittsburgh (USA) and online
Amnesty International Criticises Meta’s Handling of Anti-LGBTI Content in Hungary
Amnesty International published a briefing examining anti-LGBTI content on Facebook in Hungary and Meta’s moderation practices.
The organization argued that Meta failed to address issues regarding the moderation of anti-LGBTI content on Facebook in Hungary. The social media platform has a significant role in informing the country’s public, with half of the population being an active user of Facebook. Instead of strengthening the safeguards against hate speech towards gay people, offering them effective remedies and complying with rules found in the Digital Services Act (DSA), Facebook’s current engagement-driven design increases users’ exposure to hateful speech and content to maximize user interaction and, consequently causing these marginalized groups great distress, anxiety and discrimination. Amnesty called for stronger action in relation to Meta’s platform policies and risk management obligations.
Relevance: The case illustrates a clear shift towards systemic platform responsibility and begs the question whether software design choices create risks for particular communities and minority groups.
Link – 8 September 2026
Oversight Board: Meta must remove a hateful deepfake of a Scottish councillor
In November 2025, a Facebook user posted an AI-generated video that falsely showed a Labour councillor in Scotland making a statement that accused refugees as a group of sexual violence. The councillor and another user reported the video. Meta’s system never sent it for human review and it stayed online, even after both users appealed. When the case reached the Oversight Board, Meta still found that the video broke none of its rules and did not need an AI label.
The Board overturned Meta’s decision. A majority found that the video violated Meta’s Hateful Conduct Policy, because it attributed serious crimes to refugees as an entire group, not just to some individuals, as Meta had argued. The Board urges Meta to do more against harmful deepfakes, including tougher penalties for users who share them. The Board recalls as well an earlier recommendation that Meta clearly publish the sanctions for failing to disclose AI-generated or altered content. Lastly, the Board notes that women politicians, journalists and activists are disproportionately targeted by such deepfakes, and that local figures often lack the means to respond.
Relevance: This case shows how AI creates a new form of hate speech. It exposes gaps in platform moderation, since automated systems failed to catch the content and Meta’s own policies were applied too narrowly.
Link – 17 September 2026
France: Controversy over the “Great Replacement” theory
In an interview on 9 September, French Minister for Equality Aurore Bergé would not describe the “Great replacement” theory as racist. She did say she opposes it and considers it false and dangerous. The theory is a conspiracy narrative claiming that European populations are being deliberately replaced by non-European immigrants. On franceinfo the next day, she said that defending the theory falls within political debate, and that labelling it racist outright could shut that debate down.
Her remarks drew strong criticism. The Socialist Party (PS) and La France insoumise (LFI) accused her of legitimising racist discourse, and members of her own party, Renaissance, also distanced themselves from this position.
Relevance: This shows a difficulty in European hate speech policy, where to draw the line between speech that is false or offensive and speech that incites hatred. The “Great Replacement” is not a neutral opinion. When a minister responsible for equality treats it as a legitimate position in debate, she risks normalising it. With migration set to be a central theme in the 2027 presidential campaign, this controversy is an early sign of how hate speech could shape French political debate in the months ahead.
Link – 11 September 2026
Italy Announces Proposed Restrictions on Face Coverings and Foreign-Pupil Concentration in Schools
At a youth event organised by the right-wing “Brothers of Italy” party on Sunday Giorgia Meloni announced that soon legislative measures will be implemented to ensure that a maximum number of foreign students per class is established and wearing religious headwear such as burqas or niqabs in schools is banned.
Meloni presented the measures as integration policies and said parents of foreign pupils experiencing integration difficulties could also be required to learn Italian. At the time of the announcement, the precise proposed cap on foreign pupils had not been specified. This reinforces the right-wing ideology of Meloni and her party and takes the long-going migration debate into a polarizing territory.
Relevance: The proposal as a policy development sheds light on the wider public discourse surrounding migration, ethnicity, religion, integration and minority rights and suggests that such measures could contribute to discriminatory or stigmatizing narratives.
Link – 20 September 2026
Violence and Antisemitic Expressions at Far-Right Demonstration in The Hague
“We are the People” rally was organized by a far-right group of more than 500 people on Saturday, September 19 in The Hague to protest the government’s immigration policies. The riot police were ordered to disperse the demonstration through water cannons and arrests as it took a violent form with protesters attacking the police, making nazi salutes, chanting anti-Semitic slogans and throwing fireworks at police officers.
Government representatives, such as the Minister of Justice of the Netherlands, David van Weel called for “an extremely firm" response to the "disgusting scenes" that occurred at the protest’’.
Relevance: There is a strong overlap between the clear anti-immigration mobilization and extremist, discriminatory, hateful conduct against certain groups which showcases Europe’s increasing inclination towards nationalist ideals.
Link – 19 September 2026
Government Proposes Repeal of Previous Anti-LGBTQ+ Restrictions
Hungary’s government led by Peter Magyar submitted a bill to the parliament of Hungary on September 15 to remove anti-LGBT rules imposed by the former administration. According to Orban, the anti-LGBT laws were implemented in order to protect children’s rights but in reality marginalized the minority groups. Magyar’s government, with the aim to get the country back on its democratic track and address the judgement of the CJEU finding the legislative act to be a violation of EU law, plans to tackle violations of sexual and gender minority rights, including laws that prohibit adoption of children by LGBT people.
According to Reuters, the proposed legislation would replace those provisions with measures focused on material considered genuinely harmful to children, including pornography and exploitation. The government also indicated plans to review other restrictions affecting LGBTQ+ people.
Relevance: The repeal of a regulation labeling the visibility of certain minority groups as inherently harmful is directly linked to hate speech policy and human rights protection in the EU and the new proposed version by Magyar’s government gives a distinction between protection from genuinely harmful material or speech and unlawful restriction of minority groups.
Link – 15 September 2026
Commission Proposes Unlocking €4.2 Billion in Funds for Hungary
The European Commission stated on Wednesday, September 23rd that it is proposing to unlock 4.2 billion euros in cohesion funds for Hungary as it points to Hungary having addressed the specific rule-of-law breaches affecting the EU budget identified under the conditionality procedure, including concerns relating to public procurement, anti-corruption safeguards, conflicts of interest and prosecutorial effectiveness. The Commission is reviewing the possibility of welcoming Hungary into Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe Programs. The Council was given one month to decide whether to lift the measures.
Relevance: Although steps taken by the new Hungarian government do not imply that all rule of law related issues in the country are resolved, it offers an interesting case of a period full of institutional and political change in Hungary and showcases the interaction between EU financial conditionality and domestic reforms within Member States.
Link – 23 September 2026
