UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, is working overtime to stomp out free speech. He’s calling on governments to wipe away any online chatter he brands as ‘hateful.’ Seems a bit heavy-handed, doesn’t it?
Guterres recently made a plea to all nations during the June 18 “Day for Countering Hate Speech,” insisting they have an obligation to suppress what he calls ‘incitement to hatred,’ especially on digital platforms. What’s really interesting is how he conveniently forgets the times when the United Nations has been caught pushing anti-Semitic propaganda and constantly bashing Israel.
What I want to know is who decides what’s hateful? Guterres, apparently. He declared that hate speech leads to violence and crimes against humanity, citing examples like Nazi Germany and conflict-ridden places like Rwanda and Bosnia. The kicker? Leftists are on a spree, labeling anything they don’t like as “hate speech.”
Getting real alarmist, he went on about the danger of digital platforms spreading hate speech across borders and cultures. This gives me the creeps because it’s a pretty dire view of the world we live in. According to him, the ones he wants to combat hate speech are minority communities, and LGBTQ+ youth. It may seem like woke gibberish, but he’s saying that the UN is prepping up some ‘Global Principles for Information Integrity,’ whatever that means.
Big surprise, Guterres talks all high and mighty about freedom of speech. Yet behind that fancy talk, all I see is a plea for oppressive government censorship. He added later that leaders of all sorts have a duty to foster tolerance, diversity, and inclusivity. Sure. But let’s not forget who we’re talking about here.
The UN isn’t exactly the poster child for objectivity. If you’re looking for hypocrisy, look no further than the UN’s treatment of Israel. Remember when Israel Defense Forces got blacklisted sadly based on Hamas-issued stats? Or how about the fact Israel’s Defense Minister accused numerous UN employees of directly participating in a Hamas massacre? Seems like the UN has its favorites.
Here’s my point. Why should we trust Guterres and the UN to be the arbiters of what qualifies as hate speech? Their past actions say otherwise. If they can’t be trusted to be fair and impartial, then we’re in for a big problem.
Here’s the shovel to dig deeper–don’t just sit and take it. Reach out to your representatives. Hold Big Tech accountable, demand transparency, and make sure the First Amendment still means something. And if you ever get silenced, don’t be shy about it. Get in touch, and let’s hold Big Tech’s feet to the fire.
