UN rights chief concerned by ‘fundamental shift’ in US policy since Trump returned to power

The UN human rights chief has expressed concern over a “fundamental shift” in the direction of the United States’ traditional stance on human rights since Donald Trump returned to power.

Volker Turk, on Monday, strongly criticized the dramatic about-face policy change regarding the “unelected tech oligarchs” gaining power in the United States in recent weeks.

Turk sounded the alarm regarding the “unchecked power” of the Big Tech companies in the United States and beyond, urging governments to be “fast” in taking action against them.

Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council, the rights chief listed his concerns regarding the “fundamental shift” in US tech policy since Trump assumed office on January 20.

Trump quickly made tech billionaire, X and Tesla owner, Elon Musk his cost-cutter-in-chief, as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Without mentioning Musk by name, Turk expressed his deep concern over the growing influence wielded by “a handful of unelected tech oligarchs,” who have people’s data.

Turk warned that the tech leaders “know where we live, what we do, our genes and our health conditions, our thoughts, our habits, our desires and our fears.”

“They know us better than we know ourselves. And they know how to manipulate us.”

Turk said “any form of unregulated power can lead to oppression, subjugation, and even tyranny: the playbook of the autocrat.”

He called on world governments to “adapt … fast.”

“States must fulfill their duty to protect people from unchecked power, and work together to achieve this.”

“I am now deeply worried by the fundamental shift in direction that is taking place domestically and internationally.”

Iran: Zelensky’s humiliation in US ‘wake-up call’ to return to 19th-century bullying era

Iran says US President Donald Trump’s humiliating behavior towards his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, in the White House serves as a “wake-up call” for a return to bullying era in international relations.

Without naming Trump, he decried that “policies intended to protect people from discrimination are now labeled as discriminatory.”

“Progress is being rolled back on gender equality. Disinformation, intimidation and threats, notably against journalists and public officials, risk undermining the work of independent media and the functioning of institutions.”

Turk also raised the alarm that “divisive rhetoric is being used to distort, deceive and polarize” world nations and societies. “This is generating fear and anxiety among many.”

“On these issues and more, my office will continue building on our long history of constructive engagement,” he noted.

In the meantime, international relations experts are warning the world nations against a return to the 19th-century era of bullying adopted by Trump and his administration.

“It is a wake-up call and we should answer the question: Is international politics going to return to the 19th century, when power was dominant in relations between governments?” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei asked at his weekly press conference in Tehran on Monday.

He was referring to the heated exchange between Trump and Ukraine’s President Zelensky at the Oval Office, where the US officials humiliated Zelensky.

“The two World Wars and their consequences led the international community to conclude that the use of force should be contained and relations should be based on law.”

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