‘Ensure Everyone Has Access to Internet in This Decade’, Secretary-General Tells Presidents of United Nations General Assembly

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the Council of Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly, in Bahrain today:

Excellencies, I am pleased to send my greetings to the Council of Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly.

Thank you for mobilizing forces to advance multilateralism.  I understand you are discussing a wide range of challenges including those revolving around our fast-changing digital world.

Technologies are indeed transforming every aspect of our lives.  But, they are also outpacing regulations and aggravating inequalities.

One third of humanity is offline.  We must ensure that everyone has access to the Internet in this decade — in particular women and girls.

We must also prevent and reduce the dangers of digital technologies:  Stop the spread of mis- and disinformation and hate speech; end the abuse of personal data, which is being used to boost profits and manipulate behaviour; and establish new standards that improve cyberprotection, prevent information breaches and stop illegal surveillance.

That is why I have proposed a global digital compact, to be agreed at next year’s Summit of the Future — with input from the private sector, civil society and others.

We are also working with a wide range of actors to advance a code of conduct for information integrity on digital platforms.

As former Presidents of the General Assembly, you can help carry these goals forward.  Thank you for your efforts.