UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues [DRAFT FOR GLOBAL CONSULTATION] Introduction The Holocaust was the single worst act of genocide in the twentieth century. It also sparked an international desire for peace and supplied the impetus for the work which would lead to our rulesbased international order underpinned by the guarantee of fundamental human rights in ‘recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family’ as ‘the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world’.3 The resulting commitment to ‘liberate mankind from such odious scourge’ and as such to ‘prevent and punish’4 the crime of genocide was not sufficient to avert genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia. What is often overlooked is that all three instances targeted and sought to eliminate minorities.5 Despite reasserting ‘never again’ in the aftermath, we struggle even today to prevent acute violence against minorities in ongoing situations which may amount to ethnic cleansing and even genocide. What is remarkable is that the above instances did not begin with killing, but with dehumanising words, usually targeting those belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities.6 As I and others have pointed out in the past, the Holocaust did not begin at Auschwitz, it started with hate speech against a minority. While in the past, vile propaganda and identity-based hatred was carried in print, radio and broadcasts7, today’s hatred is conveyed online, instantaneously, without editorial controls, to an audience of millions, unrestricted by national boundaries, the commitment of any resources, or the need for the backing of an organisation. Any content standards are applied following content being posted publicly rather than before and associated systems are often slow and unable to cope with the sheer scale of online content being posted at any given time. The phenomenon of social media in the last twenty years has both been a force for democratic mobilisation, but also of unrestrained proliferation of hateful narratives and stereotypes. Yet despite online hate speech mainly targeting minorities at greater risk of communal violence and even ethnic cleansing and genocide, there has been scant focus on their protection in the online space and in particular on social media platforms. Cognisant of the above, it is intended that these Guidelines bring together previously disparate and unconnected areas of international human rights law in the specific context of online expressions on social media that facilitate the sharing of user-generated content. These are the right to freedom of expression, minority rights, the obligations to protect individuals from harm, advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, and the human rights responsibilities of private of multilateral companies, specifically those that are commonly referred to as social media companies or platforms (SMC). 3 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 (UDHR), Preamble. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 1948 (Genocide Convention), Preamble & Art. I. 5 See Genocide Convention, Art. II: “genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. 6 International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 (ICCPR), Art. 27: “In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language.” 7 Genocide Convention, Art. III(c) mandates the punishment of “Direct and public incitement to commit genocide”. 4 4