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UN chief vows to combat growing hate speech on his visit to New Zealand mosque

14 May 2019 11:26 (UTC +04:00)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres aims to draw up a global plan to fight a rising tide of hate speech, he said on Tuesday, during a visit to a New Zealand mosque where dozens of worshippers were killed in a mass shooting in March, ONA reports Reuters.

Guterres visited the Al Noor Mosque in the southern city of Christchurch, where a gunman killed more than 40 people on March 15 in one of the attacks on two mosques that killed a total of 51 people.

An Australian man, a suspected white supremacist, has been charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder over the attacks.

Guterres has asked the United Nations’ special adviser for the prevention of genocide to form a team to develop a global plan of action against hate speech, he added. The UN chief’s visit to the island nation came as its Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern prepared to co-host a meeting in France for global support to combat online expression of violence.