Morocco has renewed its unwavering and irrefutable commitment against hate speech and its attachment to the ideals of peace and coexistence to combat all forms of hatred.
This came in an address delivered Monday by Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Omar Hilale, at a high-level event, co-organized by the kingdom’s Permanent Mission to the UN and the UN Office on Genocide Prevention, in commemoration of the 4th International Day for Countering Hate Speech. The event was held under the theme “Hate Speech and Artificial Intelligence nexus: building coalitions to reclaim inclusive and safe spaces free of hatred”.
The diplomat recalled the message sent by King Mohammed VI to the participants in the Parliamentary Conference on Interfaith Dialogue, held in June 2023, in which the Sovereign stressed that “the bleak picture reflected by the conflict of beliefs in the world today should not obscure the positive and bright aspects, nor the bold initiatives launched to strengthen communication and consolidate values rooted in tolerance, understanding and coexistence between the members of the international community, and between followers of different faiths.”
Hilale also noted that Morocco has adopted a robust and multifaceted approach, combining legal regulation, institutional oversight, ethical alignment, educational programs, and technical deployments to responsibly use artificial intelligence while respecting privacy, human rights, and digital trust in order to combat hate speech.
The diplomat underscored the critical importance of effectively implementing the United Nations’ doctrinal framework aimed at promoting interreligious and intercultural dialogue and combating hate speech, including the Rabat Plan of Action, the Fez Plan of Action, the United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action to address hate speech, and all the relevant resolutions on hate speech adopted by the UN at the initiative of the Kingdom.
The celebration of the International Day for Countering Hate Speech is commemorated as proclaimed by Resolution 75/309, which was unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly in July 2021 at the initiative of Morocco.
This event was marked by a message from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who emphasized the need to build partnerships at all levels: between governments, civil society, private businesses, and religious and community leaders, to drown out the voices of hate.
“We need to counter toxic narratives with positive messaging and empower people to recognize, reject and stand up to hate speech,” the UN Chief pointed out.
For his part, President of the UN General Assembly Philemon Yang noted that throughout history, hate speech has fueled violence, exclusion, and even atrocities, adding that the General Assembly has been at the forefront of the fight against this scourge, recognizing hate speech as a global problem.
Taking the floor, High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Moratinos, commended “the initiatives of Member States — including the Kingdom of Morocco — that continue to champion interfaith dialogue and multicultural coexistence at the national and international levels.”
“These efforts demonstrate that promoting harmony is not a soft ideal. It is a strategic imperative for peace, resilience, and sustainable development,” Moratinos stressed, adding that the UNAOC 9th Global Forum “which was hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco in the historical city of Fez, was a powerful symbol of cultural and religious diversity as it should be.”
The high-level event was attended by several ambassadors accredited to the UN. Several UN officials, including the Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, the UN Special Envoy for Digital and Emerging Technologies, and the UN Under-Secretary-General for Youth Affairs, as well as representatives of tech and social media companies, community-based organizations and academia praised, on this occasion, the Kingdom’s key role and leadership in combating hate speech. They also underlined the need to build coalitions in order to reclaim inclusive and safe spaces free of hatred.
