UNITED NATIONS, Jun 19 (APP):\u00a0 The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has called on everyone to work together to build a more respectful and civil world, and for effective action to end hate speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe know that the spread of hate is used by those who want to sow divisions, to scapegoat and to distract from real issues. Social media is a remarkably fertile ground for hate speech, providing it with both unprecedented reach and speed. And hate breeds bigotry, discrimination and incitement to violence,\u201d Turk said, marking International Day for Countering Hate Speech on Sunday,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat must be done? There is no silver bullet, no switch to flip that will rid our world of hate, online or offline. But with targeted and well-resourced measures, we can succeed in limiting its spread, isolating and holding accountable hate-mongers, and building greater respect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Globally, the spread of hate speech-related laws being misused against journalists and human rights defenders is almost as viral as the spread of hate speech itself, the UN Human Rights Chief said. Broad laws \u2013 that license States to censor speech they find uncomfortable and to threaten or detain those who question Government policy or criticize officials \u2013 violate rights and endanger essential public debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rather than criminalizing protected speech, we need States and companies to take urgent steps to address incitement to hatred and violence, Turk said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The High Commissioner called for multifaceted and well-resourced efforts, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Ratcheting up investment in efforts to combat hate speech in languages other than English, and detecting and pivoting greater attention and investment to fragile contexts, or where early warning signs demand;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Listening to those most affected by hate speech, and providing better channels for them to raise concerns and get prompt action;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Holding companies responsible for what they are \u2013 and are not \u2013 doing to respect human rights, including by requiring human rights due diligence with regard to their operations and increasing transparency around hate speech policies and practices;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Empowering expanded research into how to effectively combat hate speech through greater transparency, including by open or affordable API (Application Programming Interface)access;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Providing support to those whose mental and physical health are seriously affected by incitement to hatred and violence, particularly the well-documented harms caused to women and girls by gender-based hate;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Investing in digital and media literacy programmes, human rights education, and supporting mechanisms to provide independent fact-checking with the participation of journalists and civil society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMore also needs to be done to address mega-spreaders \u2013 those officials and influencers whose voices have profound impact and whose examples inspire thousands of others,\u201d Turk said. \u201cWe must build networks and amplify voices that can cut through the hate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for efforts to curb online hate and invest in social cohesion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHate is a danger to everyone \u2013 and so fighting it must be a job for everyone. We must collectively strengthen our defenses,\u201d the top UN official told the Security Council meeting on \u201cthe Values of Human Fraternity in Promoting and Sustaining Peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe must reign in the hate that is spreading online,\u201d said the secretary-general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The UN chief underscored that hate \u201cfuels humanity\u2019s worst impulses,\u201d noting that it is a catalyst for polarization and radicalization and a conduit for atrocity crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is also a result of these crimes, contributing to horrific cycles of violence that can churn for decades. It greases the wheels of violence, frays the social fabric, and corrodes the pillars of stability. It is, in short, often the bloody heart of the conflict,\u201d Guterres elaborated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd as part of Our Common Agenda, we are working on a Global Digital Compact for an open, free, inclusive, and secure digital future for all, firmly anchored in human rights and nondiscrimination,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The secretary-general called for efforts to \u201cmove toward evermore multi-ethnic and multi-religious societies\u201d and \u201cinvest in social cohesion.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 19 (APP):\u00a0 The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has called on everyone to work together to build a more respectful and civil world, and for effective action to end hate speech. \u201cWe know that the spread of hate is used by those who want to sow divisions, to scapegoat […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5802"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}