Tenth Session- United Nations Forum on Minority Issues Item IV. Minority Youth and the media in the digital age: acceptance and opportunity Geneva, 1 December 2017 Statement by Austria Ms. Moderator. On behalf of Austria let me start by welcoming you back to the minority forum and express once again our sincere gratitude for the great contribution you have made to this institution over the past years. We would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Kurdi for his election as chairperson of the 10th session of the minority forum. This year, a 16 year old student in Austria created the first hijab-wearing emoji icon, which was then approved by the Unicode Consortium and is now available on i-phones. This is just a small example but it nicely shows how young people can contribute to better represent the diversity of our societies in digital media. Austria welcomes this year’s focus on minority youth and we have followed with great interest the discussions regarding the opportunities and challenges for minority youth with the media in the digital age. There is no doubt that digital media offers many benefits including for minorities. It gives them an opportunity to efficiently disseminate information about their rights, to promote awareness and acceptance of diversity and to give voice to their concerns and views. When misused however, digital media can also serve as a platform for discrimination, exclusion and the promotion of negative stereotypes or even hate speech, posing a serious threat to minority cultures, hampering their full integration into society and potentially even leading to large-scale violence. In Austria, we have recently strengthened the provisions on hate speech of the Austrian Criminal Code, with all minorities being protected groups.