GENEVA, July 7, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Misinformation and hate speech are inciting

harm to refugees, with artificial intelligence exacerbating the spread, the

United Nations warned Monday, as it urged tech giants to help turn the tide.

However, if handled the right way, AI could be put to good use in managing

humanitarian crises, said UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.

UNHCR is taking part in the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, putting

across its point that the world's major displacement crises are often twinned

with "information crises".

The summit is an attempt by the wider UN to focus on using AI's potential to

serve humanity by solving global challenges, and to look at the state of AI

standards.

"The spread of misinformation, hate speech and deepfakes is exacerbating and

inciting real-world harm to refugees and humanitarians," Gisella Lomax,

UNCHR's senior advisor on information integrity, told reporters.

UNHCR said this swirl of misinformation and disinformation had resulted in an

increase in "false, hostile narratives targeting operations and staff".

"In war and conflict and emergencies, these information risks are extremely

sharp," and can quickly lead to harm, she warned.

Lomax said trusted information was a necessity for refugee protection.

"We need to turn the tide on this, and I do see some encouraging progress,"

she said, adding that it needed to be systematised and scaled up.

"Our call to action is to all tech companies, AI companies and digital

platforms to partner, invest and collaborate with humanitarian

organisations."

Lomax said that when information was distorted, it could reduce access to

jobs and education, make integration harder and threaten social cohesion.

"Online rumours, false accusations, scapegoating and dehumanising speech have

triggered protests and attacks. In extreme cases, they have been linked to

physical violence, killings, and are even a factor in forced displacement,"

she said.

UNHCR said generative AI was compounding the effects, at scale, saying

deepfake videos of its staff and refugees were presenting a growing

challenge.

Lomax said: "This isn't about how legitimate societal concerns on migration

and asylum are debated online -- but about life-threatening information risks

that can lead to serious harm in humanitarian contexts."

For example, said Lomax, smugglers and traffickers can exploit digital

platforms to deceive people with false promises of safety and employment,

leading them into dangerous situations.

UNHCR wants to ensure that content moderation tools work in humanitarian

contexts, and in less-common languages.

UNHCR says there were 117.8 million forcibly displaced people worldwide at

the end of 2025, of whom 68.7 million were internally displaced and 35.6

million were refugees under its mandate.

Of those refugees, two-thirds come from five countries: Venezuela, Ukraine,

Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan.

BSS/AFP/SSS/2028 hrs