<\/p>\n
UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres called for coordinated action by governments, technology companies, civil society, religious communities, academia and the media. \u201cIn its worst forms, hate speech incites violence, drives conflict and contributes to the perpetration of atrocity crimes, including genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing,\u201d Guterres said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have seen it happen before and we see it happening now. And we cannot let it continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Guterres was addressing the opening of a global conference on interreligious and intercultural dialogue at UN Headquarters in New York.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The UN Charter commits people to \u201cpractice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours\u201d. However, Guterres said hate speech continued working against that goal. \u201cIts toxic message is spreading fast and striking deep,\u201d Guterres said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cTaking on new forms. Finding new pathways. And weaponising new technologies, from digital platforms and algorithms to artificial intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Guterres warned that hate speech was eroding trust, dividing communities and dehumanising groups while weakening acceptance, empathy and respect for diversity.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Racism, misogyny and xenophobia were increasingly being celebrated, while hatred and discrimination targeting religious and ethnic communities were being normalised.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must raise our collective voice and reject hatred,\u201d Guterres said. \u201cAnd we must redouble our efforts to tackle hate speech, online and offline.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Efforts should address the causes, drivers and consequences of hate speech by strengthening dialogue among countries, cultures and religions based on equity and respect.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Guterres said measures against hate speech should preserve freedom of expression while preventing harm. \u201cReining in hate speech does not mean extinguishing freedom of expression, but freedom of expression must never be an excuse for causing or compounding harm,\u201d Guterres said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The UN has developed a Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech and a separate Plan of Action to Safeguard Religious Sites.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However, Guterres said the UN could not tackle the problem alone.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernments, regional and multilateral organisations, the private sector and civil society, including faith communities, academia and the media, have a shared responsibility to help build peaceful, just and inclusive societies,\u201d Guterres said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must work together to foster mutual understanding, to end the tragic cycles of fear, hatred and violence, and to build the cohesive and stable societies envisioned in the Charter.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":43466,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-45780","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Hate speech is spreading rapidly through digital platforms, algorithms and artificial intelligence, threatening social cohesion and increasing the risk of violence, the United Nations (UN) has warned.","published_date":"","news_description":"Hate speech is spreading rapidly through digital platforms, algorithms and artificial intelligence, threatening social cohesion and increasing the risk of violence, the United Nations (UN) has warned.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/45780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/45780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45781,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/45780\/revisions\/45781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=45780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}