Published on: 2026-06-18
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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Against the backdrop of how hate speech on digital platforms continues to provoke outbreaks of violence against vulnerable population groups in real life, UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a stern warning: freedom of speech must never serve as a justification for inciting hatred.
“Hate speech is the first step on the road to dehumanization,” Guterres said in his message on the occasion of the International Day Against Hate Speech.
According to him, xenophobic rhetoric has become an “instrument of division.” It is used for political purposes and directed at specific population groups: women, migrants, refugees, representatives of the LGBT+ community, people with disabilities.
Under the control of artificial intelligence
“In the digital age, the language of hostility spreads like lightning. Its catalyst is unregulated online platforms, and artificial intelligence only exacerbates the situation,” the head of the UN emphasized.
“Many algorithms today encourage aggression and social division. They monetize falsehoods for the sake of ‘likes’ and promote violence for views. At the same time, anonymity on the internet allows the perpetrators to avoid responsibility for years,” he added.
UN Women structure representative Calliope Mugeiru noted in an interview with the UN News Service that rapid technological progress has significantly facilitated the transmission of patriarchal and retrograde views.
“The so-called ‘manosphere’ is not some separate site or closed community,” Mingeyru explained. “It is a huge ecosystem where algorithms in a matter of hours spread misogyny and ideas aimed against gender equality, creating among the audience the feeling that such behavior is absolutely normal and acceptable.”
Mingeiru admits that artificial intelligence did not create misandry, but it clearly scaled it up: “Now harassment organizers can stamp deepfakes, pornographic content created by neural networks, and fake accounts much faster, without any advanced technical skills and for small money.”
For information protection
The UN Secretary-General consistently rejects arguments that the fight against online aggression infringes on freedom of speech. Back in 2019, in response to the rise of xenophobia worldwide, he launched the UN Strategy and Action Plan to combat hateful rhetoric.
This document helps coordinate the work of all organizational structures in identifying, preventing, and stopping this phenomenon, and guarantees strict compliance with international standards in the field of human rights. “Freedom of opinion expression,” Gutierrez is convinced, “cannot be a justification for destructive calls.”
Recently developedGlobal principles of information integrityoffer a new vision of the digital space. Global information flows should no longer be controlled by a small group of corporations from a few countries.
Instead, the initiative calls for returning control to users: giving people the opportunity to decide for themselves which content to consume, how to customize their online platforms, and how to manage their personal data.
Within the framework of the International Day against Hate Speech, the UN is conducting a series of specialized events. Among them is a discussion dedicated to the historical and modern forms of discrimination against Roma people in Europe, as well as a round table where participants discuss the creation of coalitions and the development of practical tools to counter aggression in the media space.
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