UN launches plan to combat escalating hate speech
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Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is launching a plan to combat hate speech and counter what he calls "a groundswell of xenophobia, racism and intolerance, violent misogyny, anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim hatred" around the world.
The U.N. chief told diplomats at Tuesday's launch that "over the past 75 years, hate speech has been a precursor to atrocity crimes, including genocide, from Rwanda to Bosnia to Cambodia."
But in the digital era, he said, "hate-filled content is reaching new audiences at lightning speed and has been linked with violence and killings from Sri Lanka to New Zealand and the United States."
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Guterres said the plan aims to coordinate efforts across the U.N.'s far-flung system to confront hate speech and includes ways to engage governments, business, civil society and others to take action.