[All-English version; scroll down for bilingual as delivered version]
President Geingob of Namibia, thank you for co-chairing this event with Director-General Azoulay.
And I would repeat our thanks to France, Portugal, Lithuania, Qatar, the European Union and the Republic of Korea for their support of this conference.
Distinguished Ministers of Education, delegates, ladies and gentlemen.
I called for this conference because the issue of hate speech cuts to the heart of the polarization and divisions plaguing our world.
And it reminds us of the fundamental importance of knowledge and education in closing these divisions and building a better, more understanding and inclusive world.
Hatred takes root in the soil of ignorance.
Ignorance of historical facts.
Ignorance of science.
And ignorance of the essential human qualities that bind all people together no matter their gender, race, ethnicity, culture or background.
Denial of historical or scientific facts creates a vacuum of truth that is too easily exploited by the voices of intolerance and hate.
From the horrors of the Second World War, to the Rwandan, Bosnian and Cambodian genocides, hate speech was a precursor to the worst atrocities of the 20th century.
Today, social media provides a global megaphone for hate.
Lies, misinformation and its close cousin, disinformation spread around the world at the touch of a button.
Unverified and unaccountable thought can gain instant credibility, placed on an equal footing with proven facts and science.
A dubious webpage or anonymous post can call into question decades even centuries of work, thought, study and careful analysis by scientists, historians or other experts.
And racist, intolerant and extremist views can spread like wildfire preying in particular upon those who feel unseen and unheard.
Hate-filled claims that target diverse members of our human family are not without consequence.
They are not victimless.
They feed peoples fear and anxieties.
They push people further apart socially and politically.
They undermine democratic ideals.
They kill.
Too many people are dying from COVID-19 because they were convinced that accepting the vaccine was the wrong thing to do.
Too many people carry out acts of violence, terrorism and even genocide, because theyve been convinced that it is the right thing to do.
We can draw a direct line between hate speech and anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim and anti-Christian violence.
And we see it mirrored in acts of misogyny against women, and violence against refugees, migrants, and minorities including people of Asian descent who were outrageously blamed for COVID-19.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
When we enrich the soil of knowledge with true expertise with facts, science and historical accuracy hatred cannot take root.
Thats because education that opens our eyes to diversity, debate and exploration inherently generates respect for human rights, social justice and dignity for all.
It also provides learners with the critical thinking skills needed to challenge those who spread lies and hatred.
Critical thought is not simply thinking for yourself.
It is about having the tools and skills needed to properly assess theories and facts.
To weigh opposing ideas and judge them accordingly.
To have the courage and ability to articulate dissent in the face of mis- or disinformation.
And to tilt the scales in favour of authorities and experts who have spent a lifetime studying, assessing and thinking about these issues, by publicly and privately expressing support.
There is always room for debate around opinions.
There is no room for debate around facts.
We need to make lying wrong again.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
Thats what this conference is all about discussing ways in which education can help us fight back against mis- and disinformation and hate speech.
Education is critical to a primary aim of my Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech, launched in 2019 prevention.
Educators, teachers and administrators are our first line of defence in preventing hate speech from taking hold.
Were counting on education systems that can build young peoples critical thinking skills.
So they can tell facts from fiction and real news from fake news.
So they can learn about and build respect and tolerance for other faiths and beliefs.
And so they can recognize and appreciate the essential humanity, dignity and human rights we all share.
But we need your help.
As Ministers of Education, this is the place to share your good practices and lessons learned in your own jurisdictions.
But it is also a place to be ambitious.
We need to emerge from this conference with bold, concrete solutions on how we can individually and collectively step up the fight against hate speech.
This must include gathering many others to our cause.
From community groups in your countries who are already engaged in pushing back against hatred and intolerance.
To young people, who will inherit our future and must be part of our efforts.
To technology and social media companies, who need to be doing far more to stop their platforms from serving as megaphones for hate speech and mis- and disinformation.
To governments and political parties themselves, who in their pursuit of power can too easily succumb to the temptations of divisive, nationalist and us against them narratives that encourage hatred.
Last months multi-stakeholder forum to prepare for this conference brought together a wide diversity of groups reminding us of the high level of interest in this issue.
We need all hands on deck policy makers, youth representatives, the private sector and the multilateral community.
And we need to continue building bridges, to overcome the artificial divides that are being created and reinforced daily.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
The 51勛圖 was founded specifically to ensure that the horrors of the Second World War and the Holocaust were never repeated.
To provide a place for the countries of the world to gather and debate ideas in peace grounded in reason, diplomacy and tolerance.
And to protect and defend the rights and essential dignity of all people.
Hatred is a danger to everyone and so fighting it must be a job for everyone.
Thats why the UN family is proud to walk this path with you, and ensure that education is the key weapon in the fight against hatred in all its forms.
I look forward to continuing our fight against hate speech, and working to build the tolerant and peaceful world through education that every person deserves.
Thank you all for your commitment to this important work.
[Bilingual as delivered]
President Geingob of Namibia, thank you for co-chairing this event with Director-General Azoulay.
And I would repeat our thanks to France, Portugal, Lithuania, Qatar, the European Union and the Republic of Korea for their support of this conference.
Distinguished Ministers of Education, delegates, ladies and gentlemen.
I called for this conference because the issue of hate speech cuts to the heart of the polarization and divisions plaguing our world.
And it reminds us of the fundamental importance of knowledge and education in closing these divisions and building a better, more understanding and inclusive world.
Hatred takes root in the soil of ignorance.
Ignorance of historical facts.
Ignorance of science.
And ignorance of the essential human qualities that bind all people together no matter their gender, race, ethnicity, culture or background.
Denial of historical or scientific facts creates a vacuum of truth that is too easily exploited by the voices of intolerance and hate.
From the horrors of the Second World War, to the Rwandan, Bosnian and Cambodian genocides, hate speech was a precursor to the worst atrocities of the 20th century.
Today, social media provides a global megaphone for hate.
Lies, misinformation and its close cousin, disinformation spread around the world at the touch of a button.
Unverified and unaccountable thought can gain instant credibility, placed on an equal footing with proven facts and science.
A dubious webpage or anonymous post can call into question decades even centuries of work, thought, study and careful analysis by scientists, historians or other experts.
And racist, intolerant and extremist views can spread like wildfire preying in particular upon those who feel unseen and unheard.
Hate-filled claims that target diverse members of our human family are not without consequence.
They are not victimless.
They feed peoples fear and anxieties.
They push people further apart socially and politically.
They undermine democratic ideals.
They kill.
Too many people are dying from COVID-19 because they were convinced that accepting the vaccine was the wrong thing to do.
Too many people carry out acts of violence, terrorism and even genocide, because theyve been convinced that it is the right thing to do.
We can draw a direct line between hate speech and anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim and anti-Christian violence.
And we see it mirrored in acts of misogyny against women, and violence against refugees, migrants, and minorities including people of Asian descent who were outrageously blamed for COVID-19.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
When we enrich the soil of knowledge with true expertise with facts, science and historical accuracy hatred cannot take root.
Thats because education that opens our eyes to diversity, debate and exploration inherently generates respect for human rights, social justice and dignity for all.
It also provides learners with the critical thinking skills needed to challenge those who spread lies and hatred.
Critical thought is not simply thinking for yourself.
It is about having the tools and skills needed to properly assess theories and facts.
To weigh opposing ideas and judge them accordingly.
To have the courage and ability to articulate dissent in the face of mis- or disinformation.
And to tilt the scales in favour of authorities and experts who have spent a lifetime studying, assessing and thinking about these issues, by publicly and privately expressing support.
There is always room for debate around opinions.
There is no room for debate around facts.
We need to make lying wrong again.
Mesdames et Messieurs les repr矇sentants,
Examiner les moyens par lesquels l矇ducation peut nous aider lutter contre la m矇sinformation, la d矇sinformation et les discours de haine tel est lobjet de cette conf矇rence.
L矇ducation est essentielle la r矇alisation dun des principaux objectifs de la Strat矇gie et du Plan daction pour la lutte contre les discours de haine que jai lanc矇s en 2019 : la pr矇vention.
Les 矇ducateurs, les enseignants et les administrateurs sont notre premi癡re ligne de d矇fense pour emp礙cher la propagation de ces discours.
Nous comptons sur les syst癡mes 矇ducatifs pour d矇velopper lesprit critique des jeunes,
afin quils puissent distinguer la r矇alit矇 de la fiction et les vraies informations des fausses ;
afin quils apprennent conna簾tre dautres croyances et convictions, et faire preuve de respect et de tol矇rance leur 矇gard ;
et afin quils r矇alisent et appr矇cient lhumanit矇, la dignit矇 et les droits humains, qui nous sont essentiels et que nous partageons tous.
Mais nous avons besoin de votre aide.
En tant que ministres de l矇ducation, cette conf矇rence vous offre une occasion unique d矇changer sur les bonnes pratiques et les enseignements retenir de vos exp矇riences respectives.
Elle est 矇galement loccasion de montrer toute notre ambition.
Elle doit d矇boucher sur des solutions audacieuses et concr癡tes sur la mani癡re dont nous pouvons, individuellement et collectivement, intensifier la lutte contre les discours de haine.
Pour cela, il nous faut rallier de nombreuses autres parties notre cause :
des groupes et associations dans vos pays qui combattent d矇j la haine et lintol矇rance, aux jeunes, qui sont notre avenir et doivent participer nos efforts ;
aux entreprises de technologie et de r矇seaux sociaux, qui doivent faire bien plus pour emp礙cher leurs plateformes damplifier les voix de ceux qui propagent la haine, la m矇sinformation et la d矇sinformation ;
Et jusquaux gouvernements et partis politiques eux-m礙mes, qui, dans leur qu礙te de pouvoir, succombent trop souvent la tentation des discours clivants et nationalistes du 竄 nous contre eux 罈 qui encouragent la haine.
Le forum multipartite organis矇 le mois dernier en pr矇paration de cette conf矇rence a r矇uni un 矇ventail de groupes tr癡s divers, nous rappelant ainsi le grand int矇r礙t que suscite cette question.
Nous devons tous 礙tre sur le pont quil sagisse des d矇cideurs politiques, des repr矇sentants de la jeunesse, du secteur priv矇 ou encore de la communaut矇 multilat矇rale.
Et nous devons continuer b璽tir des passerelles pour surmonter les divisions artificielles qui se cr矇ent et se renforcent chaque jour.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
The 51勛圖 was founded specifically to ensure that the horrors of the Second World War and the Holocaust were never repeated.
To provide a place for the countries of the world to gather and debate ideas in peace grounded in reason, diplomacy and tolerance.
And to protect and defend the rights and essential dignity of all people.
Hatred is a danger to everyone and so fighting it must be a job for everyone.
Thats why the UN family is proud to walk this path with you, and ensure that education is the key weapon in the fight against hatred in all its forms.
I look forward to continuing our fight against hate speech, and working to build the tolerant and peaceful world through education that every person deserves.
Thank you all for your commitment to this important work.