Hate Speech, in My Firm Conviction, is a Serious Challenge to Statehood: Zohrabyan

Member of the National Assembly from the "Prosperous Armenia" faction, Naira Zohrabyan, wrote on her Facebook page: "The countdown has begun. And despite the wide popular masses being consistently fed popcorn that there is no hate speech, no atmosphere of intolerance, no polarized society, and no fake-manufacturers in post-revolutionary Armenia, hate speech is, in my firm conviction, a serious challenge to statehood, not only in Armenia. In Strasbourg, we discussed the issues of press and media freedom and security, as well as the challenges posed by 'fake news' and hate speech.

I stand by my statement made in Strasbourg that no authority has the right to speak of democracy if society is divided into conflicting camps and everyone uses all unacceptable weapons of 'mass destruction of hate speech' against each other. I have an allergy to the word 'urge', so I am not urging anyone; I am simply saying – stop this moral degradation, because the countdown has begun, and no one can 'sneak away' from their share of responsibility, regardless of the position held."