Scandalous misogynistic rage in Romania

Romanian feminist organizations pushed back against a public incitement to rape girls put out by the vlogger Alexandru Bălan. One of the organisations that reacted to Bălan’s video is the Filia Center, which is a leading feminist NGO. It filed an official complaint to the Bucharest prosecution office. As a result, probably for the first time, Romanian state institutions were forced to intervene in a case of rampant hate speech and misogyny. Vanessa Mieleszko discussed the details of this story with Maria Cernat.
”You cannot protect the freedom of speech when it means incitement to violence,” Maria Cernat explains. 
Vloggers often use their large audiences in order to monetise their content, but their financial and symbolic power does not strip them of responsibility. Another problem is the technology and the lack of regulation on social media platforms, such as YouTube, which make a lot of money but take minimum responsibility for the content they distribute.
This and much more on the question of violence against women in Romania as well as other related issues is discussed in the interview.

Photo: Maria Cernat (source: Maria Cernat)
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