Guterres Urges Action to Stop Online Hate Speech, Extremism

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the world to prevent hate speech, racism,  extremism, and misinformation, according to a statement.

The UN chief said: "The online world is one of the main reasons that hate speech, extreme ideologies and misinformation are disseminating so fast around the world,” calling on all those involved to do more to stop the spread, and set up enforceable "guardrails."

The top UN official warned that antisemitism, hate speech, and misinformation are ever-present, 90 years after the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany.

In the same context, Guterres noted that people are living in a world in which an economic crisis is breeding discontent, populist demagogues are using the crisis to win votes, and "misinformation, paranoid conspiracy theories, and unchecked hate speech" are rampant.

He also warned that social media platforms and their advertisers are complicit in moving extremism to the mainstream, turning many parts of the Internet into "toxic waste dumps for hate and vicious lies."