International Conference
Echoes of Hate
Digital Communication, Populism, and the Regulation of Hate Speech
Ghent, BELGIUM
15 December 2025
Opening Remarks
Prof. Dr. Clara Burbano-Herrera
Prof. Dr. Yves Haeck
Human Rights in Context, Ghent University
Keynote Speech
Prof. Dr. Eliza Bechtold
Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, University of Oxford
Closing Remarks
Zoë Grossi
Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven)
Governing Hate Online: Law, Responsibility, and Platform Power
Harmful Speech Online: Five Models of Platform Regulation
Prof. Dr. Gavin Phillipson
Prof. Dr. Robert Mark Simpson
University of Bristol Law School
From Online Hatred to Violence: The Architecture of Digital Hostility and the EU’s Juridical Response
Lavinia Pedol
University of Milan
Profiting from Hate or Participating in Debate? Critiquing Elon Musk’s Unique Political Reach as Owner-User of X
Dr. Stephanie Reynolds
University of Liverpool
Hate Speech in Italian Sport: The Case of Paola Egonu and the Growing Role of Populist Leaders
Dr. Cristiano d’Orsi
University of Johannesburg
Populism and Digital Polarization: The Politics of Online Hate
Digital Populism and the Legitimization of Hate: Communication Strategies, Social Cohesion, and the Role of Online Platforms
Dr. Ibrahim Kurt
Society of European Scholars
Introducing the HARDGORE Project: Charting the Gore Digital Ecosystem and Its Role in “Mixed, Unclear and Unstable” Extremism
Prof. Dr. Stephane Baele
Catholic University of Leuven (UC Louvain)
Dr. Lewys Brace
University of Exeter
Digital Hate to Real World Harm: Online Platforms, Populist Leader Rhetoric and the Escalation of Hate Crime
Sahil Lohia
Jamia Hamdard University
Positive Obligations and Online Hate Speech before the ECtHR: Protection or Chilling Effects?
Francesca Cassano
University of Milan
Gendered Hate and Online Misogyny: Narratives, Movements, and Countervoices
Emergency Meeting 63: Extreme Misogyny, Andrew Tate, and the Stoking of Collapse
Dr. Elizabeth Pearson
University of London
Weaponized “Sisterhood”: How Far-Right Feminist Groups Co-opt Women’s Rights to Fuel Polarization and Violence
Dr. Gwenaëlle Bauvois
University of Helsinki
Anti-Gender Coalitions and Populist Attacks on Sex Education in Belgium
Prof. Katrien Jacobs
Katelijne Lievens
Monash University Malaysia
Hate Speech Through the Screen: Lessons from the Jeannine Dauder Case before the Meta Oversight Board
Renzo Diaz Giunta
University of Lima
Media, Journalism, and Countering Hate Narrative
Journalism in Exile: Resistance and Vulnerability under Hate Speech
Dr. Kezban Karagoz
Utrecht University
Beyond Hate: Disinformation Targeting Minorities and the Erosion of Democratic Debate
Dr. Carla Sentí Navarro
Human Rights Institute, University of Valencia
Fact-Checking as a Tool to Tackle Hate Speech
Dr. Juliana da Cunha Mota
University of Oxford
Human, Wholesomeness, and Rhetorical Softening within the Affective Ecology of Far- Right Instagram
Benjamin Nangle
Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven)
Emotions, Psychology, and the Human Experience of Hate
The More Sensitive, the More Susceptible? Threat Sensitivity, Emotions, and Attitudes in Response to Social Media Threat Framing of Immigration
Silva Heinonen
Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven)
Perspectives from Forensic Psychology: Understanding the Psychological Mechanisms of Digital Communication to Combat Online Hate and the Transition to Real-World Violence
Dr. Rachel Worthington
Dr. Sören Henrich
Manchester Metropolitan University
From Label to Harm. How hate speech against individuals associated with the Gülen movement turns “presumptions” into the basis for legal-administrative decisions and leads to real-world harms.
Aneta Szarfenberg
Maria Grzegorzewska University
Digital Platforms as Tools for Influence and Polarised Politics
Dr. Soraya Afzali
Trinity College Dublin
Global and Comparative Perspectives on Hate Speech
Hate Speech in Times of Crisis: Digital Discourse and Real-World Consequences in Turkey
Elif Erol
Hrant Dink Foundation
Digital Legal Nationalism, Foreign Firms, and the Regulation of Online Hate Speech in China
Dr. Qingxiu Bu
University of Sussex
Generating the ‘Threatening’ Other: Visual Reconstructions of Hateful Rhetoric in @EuropeInvasionn’s AI-Generated Images
Dr. Allysa Czerwinsky
University of Manchester
Violence Against Women in Politics and Digital Expression: Lessons from Mexican Electoral Law
Luz Helena Orozco y Villa
University of Oxford
Partner Organisations
