FORUM ON MINORITY ISSUES THIRTEENTH SESSION "HATE SPEECH, SOCIAL MEDIA AND MINORITIES" 19 AND 20 NOVEMBER 2020 PALAIS DES NATIONS, GENEVA and VIRTUALLY SUMMARY BY THE CHAIR OF THE FORUM Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 19/23 of 23 March 2012, the Forum on Minority Issues provides a platform for promoting dialogue and cooperation on issues pertaining to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, as well as thematic contributions and expertise to the work of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Dr. Fernand de Varennes. The Forum identifies and analyses best practices, challenges, opportunities and initiatives for the further implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. The Forum meets annually for two days, on a different theme each year. The Special Rapporteur on minority issues is responsible for guiding the work of the Forum, preparing its annual meetings and reporting on its thematic recommendations to the Human Rights Council. The thirteenth session of the Forum took place on 19 and 20 November 2020. Due to the COVID-19 sanitary crisis, the Forum was held virtually, having the plenary sessions webcasted from the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Dr. Natalie Alkiviadou was appointed as Chair of the session, which focused on the theme: "Hate Speech, Social Media and Minorities’’. About 400 participants took part in the session, including representatives of States, United Nations mechanisms, specialized agencies, other intergovernmental organizations, regional organizations and mechanism in the field of human rights, national human rights institutions, academics and experts on minority issues, internet companies and social media platforms, representatives of minorities, non-governmental organisations and human rights defenders. Interpretation in six official UN languages was provided during the Forum. The Concept Note, the Agenda of the Forum and the Program of Work were made available to all Forum participants in advance of the Forum on the webpage of the Thirteenth session of the Forum1, and formed the basis for the discussions. 1 https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Minority/Pages/Session13.aspx