The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association has published a report
entitled ‘«Shoot them.» Hate speech in the election campaign in Poland.’ It
documents examples of racist and xenophobic statements about minorities,
disseminated for political propaganda purposes.
The report records manifestations of hate
speech used by politicians, activists, media, and supporters of particular
parties during the election campaign, i.e. from July to October. The
publication collects examples of entries on social media platforms, video
materials and images, interviews and speeches at rallies, taking aim at Ukrainians,
Jews, LGBT people, and people with disabilities, as well as migrants and
refugees.
- ‘Never before has hatred towards other people
been used so systematically and on such a scale in an election campaign. A ghoulish
place in the political messaging was taken by migrants from African and Asian
countries who were identified with threats such as terrorism, sexual crime, and
theft,’ said Anna Tatar from the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. She added, ‘It is
sad that this type of content was repeated by representatives of all parties.’
- ‘Video materials shared on social media
played a particular role in spreading false and harmful image of migrants.
Short videos, without any information about when they were recorded, with
racist comments, are one of the most common forms of political manipulation,’
said Rafal Pankowski from the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. ‘Such content subsequently
generated hateful comments from more and more users,’ he emphasised.
The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association participates in
the international project SafeNet (Monitoring and Reporting for Safer Online
Environments), in which it monitors and reports content propagating hatred
towards minorities to social media platforms. In September and October, out of
55 items reported to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube… none of them were removed.
The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, as a Trusted Flagger, sent reports again to each
of these platforms, containing detailed information about posts promoting hate.
As a result,… 4 such items were removed.
Selected examples of statements documented in
the report ‘«Shoot them.» Hate speech in the election campaign in Poland’:
- On 2 July Roman Giertych, former leader of
far-right Mlodziez Wszechpolska (All-Polish Youth) and Koalicja Obywatelska
(Civic Coalition) candidate in the parliamentary elections, shared a video on
Twitter that showed a group of men chased by the police and added his own
comment, ‘Twenty years from now, due to having allowed hundreds of thousands of
immigrants from Muslim countries into Poland, we may witness such scenes on the
streets of Warsaw.’
- On 8 July, Dariusz Matecki, Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc (PiS; Law and Justice) candidate for the Sejm
(lower chamber of Polish Parliament) in the Szczecin constituency, published a comment on Twitter
expressing his appreciation for the far-right militants who on 8 July invaded
the Pride Fest festival in Tbilisi (Georgia) organised by the LGBT community.
- On 20 July in Bydgoszcz Dr. Slawomir Ozdyk, far-right Konfederacja (Confederation party) candidate in the Sejm elections (lower chamber of the Polish Parliament), presented a
xenophobic, even grotesque vision of life in Western European countries. He
said, ‘The German mainstream media describe what is happening there by saying
that entire city districts have been taken over by migrant gangs. Let me
repeat, by Arab-Chechen gangs.’
- On
20 July, Janusz Korwin-Mikke, far-right Konfederacja (Confederation party) MP and its candidate in the Sejm elections in Warsaw suburbs, posted a homophobic
entry on Twitter. He declared, ‘Condemning homosexuality is one of the European
values.’
- On 26 July, the far right wRealu24 channel on
the BanBye platform broadcast a conversation with Dr. Andrzej Zapalowski, Professor
at University of Rzeszow and Konfederacja (Confederation party) candidate in
the parliamentary elections, made a false statement that ‘well over a million
Ukrainian citizens live in Poland at the expense of the Polish taxpayer.’
- On 5 August in Zielona Gora, a huge election
banner of MP Lukasz Mejza (unaffiliated, previously associated with the
Kukiz’15 movement) appeared, containing xenophobic content. The poster
displayed the slogans: ‘Accepting migrants – rape and terror,’ ‘Poland without
migrants – safe Poland.’
- On 17 August, during the parliamentary
debate, the Minister of Education and Science Przemyslaw Czarnek linked the
presence of migrants in Western European countries with sexual crimes against
women, ‘Polish women are safe in Poland, because there are no illegal
immigrants. […] And you don’t pay attention to the threat and want them to be
raped, like in France or Belgium.’
- On 6 September, Jacek Cwieka, Konfederacja
(Confederation party) candidate for the Senate,
posted on Twitter that war crimes in Bucha and Irpin [two neighbouring towns in
Ukraine where Russian troops have committed mass atrocities against the
civilian population] ‘were, after all, a hoax.’ He also spoke in defense of the
Russian president, ‘Today, all the inciters are going insane, because there is
no evidence to call Putin a war criminal.’
- On 7 September, Adam Gbiorczyk,
far-right Konfederacja (Confederation party) candidate for the Senate, published
a comment on Twitter in which he questioned the mass extermination in the Nazi
camps. He wrote, ‘The mere existence of the camps is not evidence of the death
of millions, it is only evidence of the existence of the camps.’
- On 17 September, Dr. Krystyna Pawlowicz, Judge
of the Constitutional Tribunal and former Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc (Law and
Justice) MP, posted a comment on Twitter containing a term that dehumanises
refugees and migrants (she called them ‘savages’).
***
In March 2023, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association
published the ‘Brown Book’ – documentation of racist, xenophobic and homophobic
crimes and acts of discrimination in Poland in the years 2020-2023. Over 300
pages describe cases of physical assaults on the basis of skin colour,
language, or religion, as well as acts of verbal aggression. In addition, the
report documents street demonstrations with slogans inciting hatred, acts of
discrimination against minorities, and fascist banners displayed at football
stadiums. Examples of hostility towards refugees from Ukraine can also be found
therein.
The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent
anti-racist organization founded in Warsaw in 1996. It has campaigned against
antisemitism and xenophobia, for peace, intercultural dialogue and human rights
both in Poland and internationally. It has actively participated in
international civil society networks, including the Global Alliance Against
Digital Hate and Extremism (GAADHE) and the International Network Against Cyber
Hate (INACH). It takes part in international projects to counter hate speech,
Get The Trolls Out and SafeNet.
‘«Shoot them.» Hate speech in the election
campaign in Poland’ (full version of the report – PDF).
Additional information:
www.nigdywiecej.org
www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity
https://twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ
www.linkedin.com/company/never-again-association
