A/HRC/46/58
46.
United Nations legal and political standards and mechanisms, including the
Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and
Linguistic Minorities, the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the
Rabat Plan of Action, should be consistently and concertedly deployed to counter hate
speech online.
47.
The implementation of recommendations contained in the Rabat Plan of Action
should be monitored, and specific indicators should be developed for States in relation
to their duty to address and counter hate speech and incitement to hostility,
discrimination or violence against minorities and to protect them against hate crimes.
48.
States should report on measures taken to combat hate speech, including hate
speech targeting minorities, in the implementation of other existing frameworks, such
as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Guiding Principles on
Business and Human Rights.
49.
The United Nations should mainstream into the work of its relevant bodies the
United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech.
50.
States should support the work of the International Holocaust Remembrance
Alliance on the creation of materials that may better inform national and international
bodies on the development, enactment and interpretation of Holocaust-denial laws.
51.
Relevant mandate holders charged with receiving complaints pertaining to hate
speech should work with minorities to build their trust and empower them through
enhancing access to such reporting mechanisms and to support follow-up and followthrough of their complaints, in order to prevent attrition resulting from fear, distrust,
victim blaming or retaliation.
V. Recommendations on regulation of online hate speech: the
role and responsibility of intergovernmental organizations,
States, Internet companies and social media platforms
52.
States should ensure the effective and expeditious functioning of institutional and
judicial mechanisms in order to ensure that hate speech and hate crimes are
investigated, perpetrators are prosecuted and sanctioned, and victims obtain remedy.
53.
States should improve the protection of victims of online hate speech and hate
crimes, including by informing victims of their rights, facilitating the reporting of
violations or the lodging of complaints, providing administrative and legal assistance,
reducing the costs of lawsuits, and setting up independent complaint or counselling
centres or agencies.
54.
States should address online violence and threats against minority women,
keeping in mind their commitments under the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women, the International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Sustainable Development Goal 5
and the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious
and Linguistic Minorities.
55.
States should also support and encourage non-punitive measures to counter hate
speech and support social cohesion, integration and understanding. The measures could
include campaigns to prevent and combat online hate speech, racism and xenophobia;
public education or awareness-raising campaigns; public information initiatives to
combat prejudice and stereotyping; memorandums of understanding between national
institutions and tech companies to create a safe and protected environment online; and
community education campaigns. These measures could be done in partnership with
tech companies, national human rights institutions and civil society organizations.
56.
Public and government officials at national, regional and local levels should pay
particular care to avoid using or encouraging hate speech or discriminatory and racist
language. Together with members of the media, influential figures in society, and civic
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