UNHCR Warns of Life-Threatening Impact of Digital Misinformation on Refugees
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has issued a stark warning from the AI for Good Summit in Geneva, highlighting that the proliferation of misinformation, hate speech, and deepfakes is inflicting severe real-world harm on refugees and humanitarian workers. As Artificial Intelligence accelerates the spread of digital content, it is destabilizing the global information ecosystem, undermining trust, and endangering the safety of displaced populations. UNHCR emphasizes that while AI carries the potential to improve humanitarian efforts if developed with inclusivity, current trajectories are creating a dangerous environment where digital narratives frequently trigger physical violence, social exclusion, and systemic instability.
The consequences of this “information crisis” are profound and widespread, manifesting in disrupted access to essential services such as jobs, education, and healthcare. Distorted narratives—including online rumors, dehumanizing propaganda, and scapegoating—have been directly linked to increased instances of harassment and, in extreme cases, fatal violence against those fleeing persecution. Recent reports from regions across Africa and Asia show that online vitriol fuels deep-seated grievances, making integration into host communities exponentially harder and occasionally serving as a primary driver for further forced displacement.
UNHCR’s internal data underscores the scale of the threat, revealing that 93 percent of its staff have witnessed misinformation or hate speech directly hindering their operational mandates. Women, both among refugee populations and the staff serving them, are being disproportionately targeted by malicious digital campaigns. Generative AI has further complicated these risks; the agency is increasingly encountering sophisticated deepfakes of its representatives and staff, which are being used to circulate propaganda, disclose sensitive locations, and label humanitarian workers as traitors, thereby compromising the security of life-saving relief operations.
Beyond the threat to personnel, these digital platforms are being weaponized by bad actors, including human smugglers and traffickers, to deceive vulnerable people with false promises of safety or legal migration. These criminal entities exploit the information vacuum to lead refugees into exploitative and life-threatening situations. When dehumanizing narratives are allowed to persist without check, they erode the social cohesion necessary for host communities to provide refuge, turning the digital space into a battlefield that directly threatens the protection of people who have already suffered immense trauma.
In response to these evolving threats, the UNHCR is championing a collaborative, multifaceted approach to restore information integrity. By convening global experts and policymakers, the agency is pressing for refugee-centered perspectives to be integrated into international AI governance frameworks. Key initiatives, such as the Information Integrity Response Toolkit—which has already trained 2,000 practitioners—aim to provide actionable strategies for risk assessment and community-based resilience. Furthermore, partnerships like the Global Refugee Forum Multistakeholder Pledge continue to encourage corporate and governmental entities to prioritize safety and responsible content moderation.
Ultimately, UNHCR asserts that while the right to freedom of expression is foundational, it must be balanced against the life-threatening risks posed by coordinated campaigns of disinformation in humanitarian settings. As the landscape of AI technology evolves at breakneck speed, the agency warns that the humanitarian sector cannot confront this challenge in isolation. Establishing trusted information channels is no longer just a communication goal; it is a critical necessity for saving lives. Without systemic, global cooperation to safeguard the information environment, the world risks further eroding the protection of the most vulnerable people on earth.