Christchurch, May 14: United Nations (UN) secretary-general Antonio Guterres has said on Tuesday he aims to develop a global plan to fight rising hate speech tide, during his visit to a mosque in New Zealand which was attacked in March leading to mass killing.
According to Dawn news reports, Guterres paid a visit to the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch’s southern city, where a suspected gunman claimed mass shooting on March 15 leading to the deaths of more than 40 people.
The suspected white supremacist, an Australian man, has been charged by New Zealand authorities with multiple numbers of murder and attempted murder over the Christchurch attack.
During delivering a speech outside the Al Noor mosque, Guterres said, “Hate speech is spreading and public discourse is being coarsened.”
He added, “Social media is being exploited as a platform for bigotry. We must all show solidarity in response to this dangerous upsurge in hatred.”
He askes the UN special advisor for prevention of genocides in order to form a special group to create a global plan for the action against the rise of hate speech.
Guterres’s visit to the island country came as NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern preparing to co-host a conference in France for global support in order to fight online expression of violence.
After the completion of Guterres thee-day NZ visit, he will hold a meeting with Pacific leaders in Fiji and hold discussions aimed at climate change on Wednesday.