Last week we brought together six professionals — educators, university lecturers, translators, and youth workers — for a hybrid focus group in the Netherlands as part of the UNITY project (CERV).
A room full of people who work with young minds every day, trying to understand how online hate speech shapes their reality.
What emerged was a picture of contrast: supportive classrooms on one side, and a digital world that often feels sharper, more polarised, and harder to navigate. While some participants rarely encounter open LGBTQ+ hostility in their direct surroundings, they see it clearly in certain online communities — especially where cultural tension, misinformation, or identity insecurity sit just under the surface.
Several noted how political discourse and social frustration can indirectly spill over into attitudes toward LGBTQ+ youth.
A recurring theme was emotional vulnerability. Young people move between group chats, algorithms, and unwritten social codes that can shape their sense of belonging. Subtle exclusion, coded negativity, and the pressure to “fit in” often leave deeper traces than explicit insults. And although Dutch students generally show strong media literacy, knowledge alone doesn’t dissolve the social divisions that fuel harmful behaviour online.
Professionals also pointed to a structural gap. Institutions still lack the tools — and sometimes the clarity — to respond effectively. Much of the existing support focuses on information, while what young people often need is empathy-building, behavioural guidance, and responsibility from the platforms themselves. Legal and policy frameworks remain fragmented, leaving schools and local governments unsure where their role truly begins.
What became clear is that tackling online hate requires long-term, systemic approaches: moral leadership from institutions, culturally aware strategies, and stronger cooperation with digital environments where harmful content circulates.
These insights will feed directly into UNITY’s European comparative research on how hate speech emerges, evolves, and can be challenged across different contexts.
🇪🇺 Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible.
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