Malala encourages social media usage as political weapon
Pakistani Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai encouraged youngsters in Mexico City to use social media platforms as a political weapon for issues that they truly care about, such as equality, women's rights, and education.
The 20-year-old activist warned them of the danger of discrimination on the social network and media in her remarks on Thursday during a press conference at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in Mexico City, reports EFE News.
Yousafzai said that if online discrimination persists, people will start thinking they need to hate Mexicans, Muslims, or Catholics. However, she also advocated the use of social media and remarked,
"Thanks to technology, young people can now be more involved in the politics of their countries."
When asked about the xenophobic remarks of US President Donald Trump which usually appear on his social media accounts, Malala said that his behaviour was wrong.
According to Malala, people should follow their tradition, culture and nationality, but they should not spread hatred because it hurts others.
She was also concerned about the situation of women in Latin America and called for the equal right to education.
Malala, who won the Nobel Peace Prize when she was 17, making her the youngest Nobel laureate to date, began her fight for equality at the age of 11 by resisting the fundamentalist Taliban's prohibition of local girls going to school.
She was also a blogger for the BBC under a pseudonym which allowed her to tell the world how her country had been caught up in terror.
Malala, who got accepted to Oxford University, said that there were countless benefits a country could receive if it educated children.
She also expressed her concerns over the refugees from Latin American countries who have been displaced along the borders of Mexico and the US.
Although Malala praised the works and efforts of President Enrique Pena Nieto, whom she met earlier in the day at the presidential palace, she concluded that there was still a long way to go for Mexico regarding the issue.
Malala Yousafzai said she looks up to the likes of Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, and other world leaders who fought for equality.