UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called on the international community to be vigilant about hatred.
"Since hatred and contempt of human lives are rampant in our time, we must stand guard against xenophobia every day and everywhere," the UN chief said while addressing a ceremony marking the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.
"Decades after the Holocaust, Nazi symbols and slogans remain chillingly present," he added.
The UN chief said that the annual day of commemoration "is about the past, but also the future; it is about Jews but also all others who find themselves scapegoated and vilified solely because of who they are."
"Today we have two fundamental duties," he said, noting that it is important to "remember the Holocaust and its victims" in the first place and "to be vigilant about hatred today."
Guterres told the ceremony that one recent study showed that the number of followers of Nazis and white supremacy groups has grown by 600 percent since 2012.
"The ease of using the web enables marginal groups to gain outsize visibility," he said, adding that "the anonymity of the web lets racism run wild."
The Secretary-General warned that "neo-Nazis and other such groups are aggressively trying to attract more followers."
"In the Internet, for all its wonders, we have seen the newest instrument for spreading the messages of neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other extremist groups," the UN chief said.
He also warned that "we are seeing a sharp increase in other forms of prejudice," noting that "anti-Muslim hatred is leading to discrimination, intimidation and assaults" and "hatred is also targeting migrants and refugees, including children."
"And at times, we hear things said about certain minorities, about their practices, traditions, holy books, that would never be tolerated if said about majorities or, indeed, about other minorities," he said.
However, the UN chief felt somewhat relieved that some large tech and social media companies have begun to more actively police their platforms, and to shut down sites or individuals that traffic in incitement to hatred and violence, but this effort needs to be intensified.
"Our shared challenge is to ensure that technological advances are a force for good," he said.
"We must stand together against the normalization of hate," he stressed.
"We must reject those who fail to understand that as societies become multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural, diversity must be seen as a source of richness and not a threat." he said.
