Hate speech poisons minds.
We’ve all seen the harm it does, sparking violence, exclusion, discrimination, inequality. It fuels misinformation and social polarization, driving us further apart. Misogynistic hate speech in particular is proliferating, with technology providing easy ways to spread it far and wide. In the worst cases, hate speech can lead to mass murder and genocide. Online platforms provide few safeguards against it.
Online hate speech might seem especially hard to control, but governments, civil society and individuals are taking action – including tapping the power of education – to fight back. Tackling the issue from an educational perspective involves strengthening policies and initiatives with specific measures to address and counter hate speech, helping people develop critical thinking and become active citizens who support peace and human rights.
As we mark the International Day for Countering Hate Speech this year, we can all work to make online platforms safer. Individuals can avoid harmful speech in online practices and call on others to do the same. Technology companies must take all the necessary steps to stop hate speech, including adopting safety features to limit misinformation and online violence and to protect personal data. Safety improves when tech companies deliberately manage gender-specific threats and include women and girls in the design and development of technology. Governments and industry associations should set and enforce regulations to make technology safer.
UNFPA is part of a global movement to address gendered hate speech online. It co-convened the advisory group to the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse, and issued the UNFPA Guidance on Safe and Ethical Technology for Gender-Based Violence and Harmful Practices. For a deeply personal perspective, the UNFPA feature The Virtual is Real focuses on digital violence – which includes online hate speech that serves to terrorize, dehumanize and silence – and spotlights women who are making a difference.
In response to growing xenophobia, racism, misogyny, anti-semitism, anti-Muslim hatred and other forms of intolerance and hate, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres launched the UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech in June 2019, defining hate speech as “any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are – in other words, based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, color, descent, gender or other identity factor.”
The action plan aims to enhance UN efforts to address root causes and drivers of hate speech and to enable effective responses to the impact of the speech on societies, while implementing strategies in line with the right to freedom and expression.
Hate speech must not – and will not – win. But we all need to become involved, getting educated and speaking out firmly to counter this global scourge. “Hate is hate. We can’t excuse it. We can’t ignore it,” UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem says in this powerful video. “Hate is actions. Hate is words. Hate is words that become actions.” Say no to hate.
