International Day for Countering Hate Speech

Today is the UN’s first International Day for Countering Hate Speech. Setting out the importance of their new international day, the UN said:

Hate speech incites violence and undermines social cohesion and tolerance. The devastating effect of hatred is sadly nothing new. However, its scale and impact are nowadays amplified by new technologies of communication, to the point that hate speech – including online – has become one of the most frequent methods for spreading divisive rhetoric and ideologies on a global scale and threatening peace.

Whether it’s anti-semitism, anti-muslim hate, conspiracy theories which motivate violence, climate misinformation, vaccine disinformation, or the dozens of other topics we investigate – we’ve found time and time again that social media and big tech have become the go-to places to spread hatred, and all too often lazy and greedy social media companies fail to act.

Words can kill. And we need social media companies and big tech to do more. So join us on the UN’s first International Day for Countering Hate Speech and say #NoToHate.

In the words of UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

“Hatred is a danger to everyone – and so fighting it must be a job for everyone.“

António Gutteres, United Nations Secretary-General, 2021

We can’t be bystanders when hate and misinformation are used to roll back the progress we’ve made across so many areas – equality, freedom, inclusion, tolerance and peace.

We must demand action. Social media companies need to be doing far more to prevent their platforms from acting as global megaphones for hate speech and misinformation.