BERLIN -Unless countries work together to address gaps in digital access, as well as related social and political divisions, this generation will be remembered as the one that “ruined the early promise of the Internet”, the UN Secretary-General has warned.

António Guterres was speaking on Tuesday at the Internet Governance Forum taking place in Berlin this week: “Connecting all the world’s people by 2030 must be our shared priority, not only for sustainable development, but for gender equality”, he said, highlighting the role of the Internet in achieving a more equitable future.

With 2019 marking the 30th anniversary of the Berlin Wall being torn down, the UN chief expressed frustration that “not only are we still building physical walls to separate people, but that there is also a tendency to create some virtual walls in the Internet, also to separate people.” The only solution, he said, is a future with “one world, one net, one vision.”