Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Statement of 15 December 2021, HCWS487 on Conflict, Stability and Security Fund Allocations 2021-22, which of the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund's programmes for the financial year 2021-22 will encompass projects to tackle hate speech; and what the regional locations are of those projects.

The CSSF is a unique, cross-government fund that tackles conflict, stability and overseas security challenges. The fund supports programmes to tackle the root causes and drivers of conflict and instability, to improve social cohesion, to prevent harm to minority groups and to enable their inclusion in society. This can include - but is not limited to - activities that aim to tackle hate speech. In the financial year 2021/22, this includes a multi-country ‘Gender, Peace and Security’ programme in India, Lebanon, Malta, Mexico and South Africa that aims to create an early warning system that will flag online violence targeted at women journalists.

The fund also supports the ‘Caught in the Web’ project in Sri Lanka which tackles online gender-based hate targeting women in public life. The fund is also piloting new projects jointly with local law enforcement to enhance and prevent hate speech activity in Poland, France and Spain.