Hate speech is ‘the first step towards dehumanization’

“Hate speech is the first step towards dehumanization,” declared Mr Guterres in his message marked the year 2026 International Day to Combat Hate Speech..

It is a “tool of division,” he said, to target specific groups, including women, migrants, refugees, LGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities and many other minority groups, often for political gain.

Fanned by AI

“In today’s digital era, hate speech spreads faster than ever, amplified by unregulated platforms and amplified by artificial intelligence,” he continued.

“Too many algorithms reward anger and division, incentivize lies for likes, and encourage violence for views. Online anonymity also makes it difficult to hold perpetrators accountable.”

Kalliopi Mingeirou, Head of the Ending Violence Against Women Section at PBB-Women in New York, it is said UN News that rapid technological developments facilitate the spread of hate speech and conservative and retrograde views about women shared online.

“Manosphere is not a single website or community,” he said. “It’s a broader ecosystem of algorithm-driven content that can propagate misogyny and opposition to gender equality and women’s rights very quickly, and make it seem normal or acceptable.”

While admitting that artificial intelligence does not create misogyny, Ms. Mingeirou believes that artificial intelligence is actually reinforcing misogyny. “Abusers can now create and distribute deepfakes, synthetic images of a sexual nature, impersonation content, and other forms of image-based abuse. faster, cheaper and with less technical skill.”

The UN Secretary General has long rejected the argument that taking a stand on this issue constitutes a violation of freedom of expression. In 2019, in response to the rise in hate speech around the world, he launched UN Strategy and Action Plan on Hate Speech.

This strategy aims to coordinate efforts across the UN system to identify, prevent and confront hate speech while respecting international human rights standards. “Freedom of expression,” he said, “should not be an excuse to convey harmful messages.”

Recently, the U.N Global Principles for Information Integrity proposes a vision of a world in which global information flows are no longer dominated by a small group of companies based in a few countries.

These principles require people to have greater control over the media they choose to consume, their online experiences, and how their personal data is used.