Date: March 14-15, 2025
Venue: Hrant Dink Foundation Anarad Hığutyun Building, Papa Roncalli St. No: 128 Harbiye, Şişli/İstanbul
You are invited to the Hate Speech: Current Debates and Alternative Approaches event which will be held on Friday and Saturday, 14-15 March 2025. Over the course of two days, the event will explore topics such as defining and identifying hate speech, addressing various monitoring practices, and discussing conceptual debates. The event will also focus on alternative approaches to combating hate speech.
During the event, the AI tool pari developed in collaboration with Hrant Dink Foundation, Boğaziçi University, and Sabancı University, will be introduced. Additionally, reports published under the project ‘Utilizing Digital Technology for Social Cohesion, Positive Messaging and Peace by Boosting Collaboration, Exchange and Solidarity' will be presented, including Hate Speech: Contemporary Issues and Debates and Utilizing AI against Hate Speech: A Guide to Annotation, Classification, and Detection.
During the event, the AI tool pari developed in collaboration with Hrant Dink Foundation, Boğaziçi University, and Sabancı University, will be introduced. Additionally, reports published under the project ‘Utilizing Digital Technology for Social Cohesion, Positive Messaging and Peace by Boosting Collaboration, Exchange and Solidarity' will be presented, including Hate Speech: Contemporary Issues and Debates and Utilizing AI against Hate Speech: A Guide to Annotation, Classification, and Detection.
We dedicate this event to the memory of our board member, Prof. Fuat Keyman, whom we lost last year. He was a visionary in the establishment of the ASULIS Discourse, Dialogue, Democracy Laboratory, hosted all the search meetings during ASULIS’s founding process, guided our work by shaping our roadmap, and played a key role in fostering collaboration between Sabancı University and our team for the development of pari, the AI tool we will introduce at this event for hate speech detection.
- The panel will be an in-person event.
- Please fill out a separate registration form for each day of the event. You can find the registration forms in the program below.
- There will be simultaneous translations in Turkish and English.
- Simultaneous translation in Arabic will only be available via the Zoom platform. Please fill out the registration form below for the Zoom session.
- It will be live-streamed on the Hrant Dink Foundation’s YouTube account.
March 14, Friday
14:00-14:15
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Nayat Karaköse (Hrant Dink Foundation), Joris Heeren (EU Delegation), Aret Demirci (Friedrich Naumann Foundation)
March 14, Friday
Panel 1
Panel 1
14:15-15:45
Combating hate speech and discrimination: The use of digital technologies
Combating hate speech and discrimination: The use of digital technologies
Speakers: Didar Akar, Berrin Yanıkoğlu, Arzucan Özgür, Elif Erol, İnanç Arın, Gökçe Uludoğan
Please fill out the registration form.
Simultaneous translation in Arabic will only be available via the Zoom platform. Please fill out the registration form for the Zoom session.
This session introduces the project “Utilizing Digital Technology for Social Cohesion, Positive Messaging and Peace by Boosting Collaboration, Exchange and Solidarity”, which was carried out since 2022 in partnership with the Hrant Dink Foundation, Boğaziçi University, and Sabancı University. It will discuss the use of digital technologies in combating hate speech and the impact of interdisciplinary collaboration. Through interactive applications involving participants, the project’s methodology will be explored, and pari, the AI tool developed as the project’s main outcome, will be presented.
15:45-16:15 Al tool pari demo & coffee break
Participants will have the opportunity to interact with pari, the hate speech detection tool, through designated computers set up for hands-on use. This demo allows attendees to explore the tool’s functionalities, test its capabilities, and experience its practical applications firsthand.
March 14, Friday
Panel 2
Panel 2
16:15-17:45
Defining hate speech: Different perspectives and contexts
Defining hate speech: Different perspectives and contexts
Speakers: Susan Benesch, Yasemin İnceoğlu, Tirşe Erbaysal Filibeli, Zeynep Özarslan
Moderator: İdil Engindeniz
Please fill out the registration form.
Simultaneous translation in Arabic will only be available via the Zoom platform. Please fill out the registration form for the Zoom session.
This session aims to explore how definitions of hate speech evolve across sectors, from legal frameworks and media narratives to AI-driven technologies. The discussion is intended to address the challenges of applying these definitions in policy-making, content regulation, and technological solutions. Speakers are invited to examine these varying definitions and consider how they shape countering strategies.
March 15, Saturday
Panel 1
Panel 1
10:30-12:00
Detecting hate speech: Interdisciplinary approaches
Speakers: Tommaso Caselli, Claudia von Vacano, Eser Selen, Onur Varol
Moderator: Berrin Yanıkoğlu, Didar Akar
Please fill out the registration form.
Simultaneous translation in Arabic will only be available via the Zoom platform. Please fill out the registration form for the Zoom session.
This session will explore hate speech detection through an interdisciplinary perspective. It will examine the relationship between digital solutions and human-driven methods, assessing how context and linguistic nuances influence detection processes. Additionally, researchers' challenges in identifying hate speech— including data collection, definitional variations, data labeling, and the role of subjective factors—will be analyzed.
12:00-13:00 Al tool pari demo & lunch
March 15, Saturday
Panel 2
Panel 2
13:00-14:30
Countering hate speech: Alternative strategies and initiatives
Speakers: Alex Mahadevan, Metin V. Bayrak, Liana Erişsever, Aslı Yolcu Sağlam
Moderator: Ayfer Bartu Candan
Please fill out the registration form.
Simultaneous translation in Arabic will only be available via the Zoom platform. Please fill out the registration form for the Zoom session.
This panel aims to explore alternative approaches that prioritize capacity building and raising awareness in the struggle against hate speech. The promotion of inclusive narratives and the enhancement of media literacy will be evaluated, particularly through initiatives conducted with young people. The discussion will highlight the importance of human rights-centered language and visibility of diverse identities as essential first steps in combating hate speech.
Didar Akar is an Associate Professor of Linguistics at Boğaziçi University. She holds a PhD in linguistics from the University of Michigan. Her teaching and research areas include discourse analysis, conversation analysis, sociolinguistics and pragmatics. She focuses on language and gender, language and identity, and most recently, social media and hate speech
Berrin Yanıkoğlu is a Professor of Computer Science and founding Director of the Center of Excellence in Data Analytics (VERIM) at Sabancı University. She worked at Rockefeller University, Xerox Imaging Systems, and IBM Almaden. Her research interests lie in the intersection of computer vision and machine learning areas, currently focusing on hate speech detection, supervised and self-supervised image understanding, handwriting recognition for Ottoman text, medical image understanding, and text summarization. She is an Editor for the Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Arzucan Özgür is a faculty member in Computer Engineering at Boğaziçi University and co-director of the TABI Lab. She joined the Department of Computer Engineering at Boğaziçi University in 2011. Prior to that, she worked in the Faculty of Computer and Informatics at Istanbul Technical University between 2010 and 2011. Her research focuses on bioinformatics and natural language processing, developing algorithms for human and biological languages
İnanç Arın works at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences (FENS) as a Faculty Member. In addition to undergraduate courses, he teaches Introduction to Data Analytics and Machine Learning courses in the Professional Master's Program in Data Analytics at Sabancı University, while also providing consultancy and training under the umbrella of the Center of Excellence in Data Analytics (VERİM). His research areas are data mining, machine learning, and specifically natural language processing.
She graduated from Sabancı University’s Cultural Studies department in 2019. In 2022, she completed her master’s degree in the same department. Since 2023, she has been working in the field of hate speech at the Hrant Dink Foundation
Gökçe Uludoğan is a researcher with BS/MS degrees from the Boğaziçi University Computer Engineering department. Currently pursuing a PhD and serving as a teaching and research assistant, she has actively contributed to projects in Turkish natural language processing, hate speech detection, and innovative AI applications in cheminformatics and bioinformatics, with funding from local (TÜBİTAK) and international European (ERC) organizations. Gökçe is also a co-developer of pari demonstrating her strong commitment to leveraging technology to foster safer and more inclusive digital spaces
Susan Benesch founded and directs the Dangerous Speech Project, an independent research team, to study speech that can inspire violence - and to find the best ways to prevent this without infringing on freedom of expression. She is an adjunct professor at American University in Washington D.C. and is Faculty Associate of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. She co-founded the Coalition for Independent Technology Research and sometimes advises tech companies on content governance. Her current research includes constructive grassroots responses to online hatred, and friction in design.
İnceoğlu is a visiting professor in the Department of Media and Communication at the London School of Economics.She served as the Head of the Journalism Department and Dean of the Faculty of Communication at Galatasaray University until her retirement in 2016. İnceoğlu has been involved with international organizations such as UNESCO, ILAD, and the Council of Europe, and has lectured at institutions like EUI and UCL. Some of her books include: Hate Speech and/or Hate Crimes (2012), Minorities, Others and Media (2014), Others, Women, Media and Society (2015).
Associate Professor Filibeli has been leading the New Media Department at Bahçeşehir University Faculty of Communication since 2018. She has been a researcher and coordinator for the Turkey team of the Media Pluralism Monitoring Project since 2016 and worked on the Ermiscom Project from 2020-2023. Her academic interests include hate speech, populism, algorithmic manipulation, computational propaganda, digital media literacy, media pluralism, information disorder, disinformation, surveillance, news production in the digital age, economic policy of media, digital capitalism, platform economy
Zeynep Özarslan is a Professor of Communication Studies at Çukurova University. She has taught courses in film, communication, and new media studies since 1998, supervising graduate theses. Her research interests include new media, film studies, the sociology of communication, and the creative industries, with recent publications focusing on digital games, celebrity studies, digital violence, and hate speech. Her recent publications explore topics such as digital games, celebrity studies, digital violence and hate speech.
Engindeniz works at the Faculty of Communication at Galatasaray University and is a graduate of the same faculty’s journalism module. She completed her master’s and PhD in France at Stendhal University, focusing on journalism ethics and LGBTQ+ public sphere issues. She collaborates with various civil society organizations on topics such as media representation, hate speech, and femicides
Dr. Tommaso Caselli is Assistant Professor in Computational Semantics at the Center for Language and Cognition (CLCG) of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Groningen. He is one of the founders of the "Event and Stories in the News" workshop series. He has been involved in the organization of several semantic evaluation campaigns for NLP for English and Italian. He has covered (senior) area chair positions (COLING, ACL, EMNLP, EACL) and his work is featured in major *CL conferences and journals. He has been awarded two "Outstanding Paper Award" (COLING 2022; ACL 2023) and one "Best Paper Award" (AACL 2022). His main research interests are in event extraction and framing, hate speech and misinformation detection and countering.
Dr. Claudia von Vacano is an algorithmic fairness, transparency, and explainability expert, particularly in hate speech. As Executive Director of the D-Lab, Digital Humanities, and the Federal Statistical Research Data Center at UC Berkeley, she leads programs annually through computational and data-intensive research, workshops, working groups, and consultations. A leader in curriculum development, she designed UC Berkeley’s Digital Humanities Summer Minor and Certificate program. She is the lead online course developer for SAGE Campus’s Introduction to Applied Data Science Methods for Social Scientists and principal investigator of the Online Hate Index in partnership with the Anti-Defamation League.
Eser Selen is an Associate Professor of Communication Design at Özyeğin University, specializing in feminisms, performance studies, queer theory, and contemporary art. Her research has been published in journals such as Gender, Place, and Culture and Women & Performance. She is finalizing her first monograph, Contesting Gender and Sexuality through Performance, set for publication in 2026 by the University of Edinburgh Press. She is a multimedia artist, her work in performance, installation, and video has been exhibited internationally.
Varol is an Assistant Professor at the Computer Science Department and has an affiliation with the Center of Excellence for Data Analytics. His lab, called VIRAL Lab, focuses on computational social science, networks, and machine learning. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the Northeastern University Networks Science Institute, working with Albert-László Barabási on quantifying performance and success online (Q-Factor). His research activities focus on modeling user interactions, leveraging online data across multiple platforms to understand conscious and unconscious behaviors
Alex Mahadevan is director of MediaWise, Poynter’s digital media literacy initiative, and faculty leading AI initiatives and misinformation research. He co-leads the Empowering Diverse Digital Citizens Lab at Stanford University, which studies the impact of media literacy interventions on underserved communities. Alex co-wrote Poynter’s AI ethics guide, led its first Summit on AI, Ethics and Journalism and associated research paper. Alex has led workshops on generative AI, OSINT, verification, media literacy and emerging technologies in dozens of cities from Bangladesh to Wyoming
Since 2014, through Opus Noesis, which he founded, Bayrak has been working to promote applied philosophy in Turkey while also teaching various courses as a part-time lecturer at Galatasaray University and Istanbul Okan University. He conducts certificate programs in applied philosophy, philosophy for children (P4C), philosophy with communities, and facilitation at the continuing education centers of various universities. He is interested in philosophy, applied philosophy, alternative education, architecture, literature, and art
After graduating from the Sociology Department of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, she completed her master's degree in Psychological Counseling and Guidance at Yıldız Technical University in 2018. She participated in the 'PDR Educational Material Design and Development' project within the scope of the Sabancı University Purple Certificate Program After working as a School Counselor at various school levels, she has been working at Learning Programs of the Hrant Dink Foundation since 2023
Yolcu received her BA degree from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, the Department of Art History in 2018. She worked in various cultural and art institutions in learning programs, curation and exhibition guide positions. Since 2022, she has been working at 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory and HDF Learning Programs department
After completing her undergraduate studies in Sociology and Psychology, Ayfer Bartu Candan earned her master's and doctoral degrees in Social Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley. Between 1998 and 2024, she served as a faculty member at various universities. Following her retirement from Boğaziçi University’s Sociology Department in 2024, she has been working as the Research Director at the Hrant Dink Foundation.