Technology and Science07 July, 20262 min read
UNHCR Warns AI-Powered Misinformation And Hate Speech Incite Harm To Refugees
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UNHCR warns AI-driven misinformation and hate speech harm refugees and humanitarian workers. AI amplifies misinformation risks and undermines trust in the information space.
AI fuels refugee misinformation
The United Nations warned that misinformation and hate speech are inciting harm to refugees, with artificial intelligence exacerbating the spread, as UNHCR urged tech giants to help turn the tide. UNHCR said the world’s major displacement crises are often twinned with "information crises," and Gisella Lomax, UNHCR's senior advisor on information integrity, told reporters that "The spread of misinformation, hate speech and deepfakes is exacerbating and inciting real-world harm to refugees and humanitarians,".
UNHCR said generative AI is compounding the effects at scale, citing deepfake videos of its staff and refugees as a growing challenge. UNHCR also warned that when information is distorted, it can reduce access to jobs and education, make integration harder and threaten social cohesion, and that online rumours, false accusations, scapegoating and dehumanising speech have triggered protests and attacks.
Deepfakes and staff targeting
UNHCR said a recent survey of its staff found that 93 per cent had encountered misinformation, disinformation or hate speech that affected humanitarian work, with generative AI making it easier to create and distribute false narratives. The Eastleigh Voice reported that UNHCR highlighted AI-generated videos impersonating senior UNHCR officials, online posts urging people to reveal the locations of aid workers, and videos portraying national staff as traitors.
Al-Jazeera Net said the UNHCR warned that artificial intelligence is now amplifying these risks and undermining trust in the global information space, as distorting facts reduces refugees' opportunities to work and study. Al-Jazeera Net also said UNHCR stressed that rumors, false accusations, and dehumanizing rhetoric lead to protests and attacks, and in extreme cases may be linked to physical violence, killings, and even new forced displacement.
What UNHCR wants next
UNHCR urged governments, technology companies and researchers to ensure humanitarian concerns are reflected in emerging rules governing artificial intelligence, and said content moderation systems should be better equipped to identify harmful content in humanitarian settings and in less widely spoken languages. The Eastleigh Voice quoted UNHCR saying that this means placing people at the heart of trust and safety teams, and creating clear frameworks on guardrails and manipulation.
The Eastleigh Voice also said UNHCR cited Libya as one of the most recent examples, where waves of hate speech and false claims targeting refugees heightened tensions, threatened the safety of humanitarian workers and disrupted efforts to assist displaced people. In parallel, Al-Jazeera Net said UNHCR launched a practice community on information safety in humanitarian contexts with support from Switzerland, and developed an Information Safety Response Toolbox relied upon by thousands of workers to assess risks and build community responses.