Developed Countries Monopolizing ICT to Distort Realities: Iran Foreign Ministry
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Developed countries are monopolizing information and communications technology to draw their desired image of the developing world to the international community, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.
Addressing the 43rd meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)’s Committee of Information, which was held via a video conference, Khatibzadeh said the advanced states were using the monopoly to distort and fabricate realities concerning the developing world, urging the UN to step in to prevent the abuse.
“Placing information and communications technologies at the service of development in a fair and just manner is a must,” he stressed.
He, therefore, called on the United Nations Department of Global Communications to act more diligently to raise the international awareness in the area.
Domineering efforts by some media outlets and bigoted rhetoric by Western political figures are, meanwhile, aiming to fan the flames of Islamophobia in some parts of the world, the official warned.
He advised that the international community condemn such practices and work to prevent this human rights violation against the world’s Muslims.
“The Department must continue to promote respect for all cultures, religions and civilizations and draw attention to the serious implications of growing Islamophobia,” a UNGA summary of the meeting cited Khatibzadeh as saying.
The spokesman also urged that the UN Secretariat issue its releases in various world languages other than the world body’s official languages, including Persian, which is spoken by 100 million people.
Separately, Khatibzadeh noted how economic sanctions, including the ones that were being deployed by the United States against Iran, were being applied to deliver direct adverse effect on their targeted nations.
He called on the department to scramble to inform the international community about the coercive measures’ harmful effects.