Bærum municipality in close collaboration with the Oslo police district has initiated a project that seeks to map the prevalence of hate speech and hate crime in Bærum and ways to prevent it from happening.
The project is called «Safe city» and is part of a greater national initiative to ensure that cities in Norway as safe for all and identify how municipalities can prevent violence and hatred. Addressing hate speech does not mean limiting or prohibiting freedom of speech. It means keeping hate speech from escalating into something more dangerous, particularly incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence, which is prohibited under Norwegian law.
The project is initiated by and developed with financial support from Gjensidigestiftelsen and is part of the initiative Nordic safe cities
An important component of the project is to investigate the thoughts and behaviours of the citizens of Bærum regarding the groups defined as in need of protection by the Norwegian law. Ipsos has been contracted to perform a survey among the general public in Bærum.