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STORY: UN / COUNTERING HATE SPEECH
TRT: 02:36
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 18 JUNE 2026, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN Headquarters
18 JUNE 2026, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, conference room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Chaloka Beyani, Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, United Nations:
“In our digital age, hate speech spreads faster than ever, amplified by unregulated platforms and intensified by artificial intelligence. Too many algorithms reward outrage and division, incentivising lies for likes and promoting violence for views. Anonymity online also makes it harder to hold perpetrators to account. But practical solutions can break this dangerous cycle from education to recognise and reject hate speech, to support for those targeted by abuse, to stronger interventions from governments and technology companies.”
4. Wide shot, conference room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Chaloka Beyani, Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, United Nations:
“The United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech points the way, while the Global Principles for Information Integrity provide a roadmap to a safer, more ethical digital ecosystem.”
6. Wide shot, conference room
7. SOUNDBITE (English Miguel Ángel Moratinos, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC):
“Today, public conversation is increasingly shaped by technological systems that influence what we see, what we read, and even how we perceive one another. For two decades, the UN Alliance of Civilisation has sought to address not only the manifestations of intolerance and racism based on religion or belief or ethnicity, but also the condition and root causes that allow intolerance to take root.”
8. Wide shot, conference room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, Department of Global Communications (DGC):
“We know where this kind of hate can lead. Hate becomes dehumanisation; dehumanisation sparks violence. Violence fuels conflict. Conflict provides cover for atrocities. And we've seen the result of these atrocities. This was Auschwitz, the worst examples, of course. And then also Rwanda and Srebrenica all brought about and fuelled by hate speech, none of which had benefited from the internet. I can only imagine, I don't even know if it could have been worse if they had the internet, but we are in an age of where we need to be very alarmed. And we cannot stop, fighting. We need to point towards solutions.”
10. Wide shot, conference room
Marking the International Day for Countering Hate Speech today (18 Jun) United Nations officials highlighted the need to implement the UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech and other practical tools and approaches to combat hate speech in digital media.
In his remarks on behalf of Secretary-General António Guterres, Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Chaloka Beyani said, “in our digital age, hate speech spreads faster than ever, amplified by unregulated platforms and intensified by artificial intelligence. Too many algorithms reward outrage and division, incentivising lies for likes and promoting violence for views. Anonymity online also makes it harder to hold perpetrators to account. But practical solutions can break this dangerous cycle from education to recognise and reject hate speech, to support for those targeted by abuse, to stronger interventions from governments and technology companies.”
Beyani said the United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech “points the way, while the Global Principles for Information Integrity provide a roadmap to a safer, more ethical digital ecosystem.”
Under-Secretary-General and High Representative at the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), Miguel Ángel Moratinos, said, “public conversation is increasingly shaped by technological systems that influence what we see, what we read, and even how we perceive one another,” and pointed out that “for two decades, the UN Alliance of Civilisation has sought to address not only the manifestations of intolerance and racism based on religion or belief or ethnicity, but also the condition and root causes that allow intolerance to take root.”
For her part, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming said hate speech “becomes dehumanisation, dehumanisation sparks violence. Violence fuels conflict. Conflict provides cover for atrocities. And we've seen the result of these atrocities. This was Auschwitz, the worst examples, of course. And then also Rwanda and Srebrenica all brought about and fuelled by hate speech, none of which had benefited from the internet.”
Fleming said, “we need to be very alarmed. And we cannot stop, fighting. We need to point towards solutions.”
The Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech underscores the importance of partnerships in the fight against hate speech and stresses the need to raise awareness about respect for human rights, non-discrimination, coexistence, acceptance and respect for diversity and understanding of other cultures and religions, as well as the promotion of intercultural, interfaith and interreligious dialogue.
