Secretary-General António Guterres told the General Assembly that freedom of expression cannot justify hate speech, as online platforms accelerate real-world harm.
A single phrase, repeated often enough, can precede a killing. That is the logic behind the United Nations Secretary-General's latest warning to the General Assembly — that hate speech is not a endpoint but a beginning.
António Guterres told member states that freedom of expression must never be used to justify hate speech, according to UN General Assembly News. The statement came as online platforms continue to accelerate the spread of dehumanising language into real-world violence against vulnerable communities.
Language as a precondition
The Secretary-General described hate speech as "the first step down the path of dehumanisation," the UN reported. The framing matters: it positions language not as a symptom of prejudice but as its instrument — the mechanism through which communities are made acceptable targets.
For people with albinism, that mechanism is familiar. In parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, decades of myth-making — in conversation, in rumour, in digital spaces — have preceded documented killings, abductions, and the trade in body parts believed to carry magical properties. The UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism, Muluka-Anne Miti-Drummond, has noted in previous reports that stigmatising language remains one of the least-addressed drivers of violence against the community.
Guterres did not name specific communities in the reported remarks. But the General Assembly has, in prior resolutions, explicitly recognised people with albinism as a group requiring targeted human rights protections — including protections from the kind of speech that frames them as less than human.
Platforms and accountability
The Secretary-General's remarks arrive as pressure on social media companies intensifies. Online platforms, the UN said, continue to fuel a surge in real-world violence by amplifying content that would once have remained local. A slur shared in a village now travels globally; a myth about albinism posted on a platform reaches audiences far beyond its origin.
The UN has not, in this statement, proposed specific regulatory mechanisms. What Guterres offered was a principle: that the right to speak freely does not extend to speech designed to strip others of their humanity.
That principle, plainly stated, is one the albinism community has asked international bodies to apply with greater consistency for years.
Keywords
Core topics and entities mentioned in this summary.