Argentina was the only country to vote against a United Nations resolution promoting the end of all forms of online violence against women and girls.
During Thursday’s UN General Assembly session, the South American nation argued that the resolution contained ambiguous terms such as “hate speech,” “misinformation,” and “disinformation” that could be used “abusively” to restrict freedom of expression.
A total of 170 nations voted in favor, while 13 others abstained, including Iran, Russia, Nicaragua, and North Korea.
Argentinian President Javier Milei has been a vocal critic of the UN, accusing the global body of trying to “impose an ideological agenda” while seeking to distance Argentina from the UN-sponsored 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
“We are at the end of a cycle. The collectivism and moral high ground from the woke agenda have crashed with reality, and they don’t offer credible solutions for the world’s problem,” he said from the podium at the UN General Assembly in September.
Thursday’s vote happened days after the country was, yet again, the only nation that voted against a UN resolution focused on the rights of indigenous people.
Milei, who ran on a libertarian platform, has rolled out drastic social and economic measures in Argentina since taking office.
His government has halted the purchase of essential supplies for abortion access, banned gender-inclusive language in official documents, and replaced the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity with a less powerful undersecretariat within the Ministry of Human Capital.
It also effectively closed the national anti-discrimination agency, saying the Ministry of Justice would absorb its functions.
During Milei’s presidential campaign, he and his party were accused of making offensive remarks against LGBTQ communities which were deemed hate speech by multiple groups, including Argentina’s National Observatory of LGBTQ Hate Crimes.