National Human Rights Commission of Korea Annual Report 2020 Section 4. ‌Special Program: Combating Spread of Hate Speech A. Overview 1) Background The international community remains committed to eradicating hate speech, including the United Nations establishing the Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech (2019) and soliciting state governments to counter hate speech. In 2020, amid COVID-19 measures, more hate speech was targeted towards minority groups, an indication that anyone can become a target. The Commission countered the spread of hate speech as special program of the fifth phase of the Human Rights Promotion Action Plan (2018-2020). In 2019, it launched the Counter-Hate and Discrimination Task Force to foster a public debate and enhance public perception. 2) Purpose In 2019, the Commission did the groundwork for combatting hate speech. It looked at the general public perception, built a theoretical framework, and expanded scope of its responses against hate speech through cooperation in and outside of Korea. Based on these efforts and to achieve tangible results, the Commission mainly focused on three tasks, which are 1) promoting self-regulation, 2) fostering public debate and shaping conditions, and 3) strengthening actions in the public domain. B. Key Activities ■ Establishment and enforcement of self-regulatory standards on hate speech Establishment of self-regulatory standards and declaration to eradicate hate speech has significant effects. It helps set ethics standards and direction by proclaiming the will of the community that there would be zero tolerance against hate speech. Further to 2019, the 54