A/HRC/46/58 I. Introduction 1. In its resolutions 6/15 and 19/23, the Human Rights Council decided that the Independent Expert on minority issues should guide the work of the Forum on Minority Issues and prepare its annual meetings, and invited him/her to include in his/her report thematic recommendations of the Forum and recommendations for future thematic subjects, for consideration by the Council. In its resolution 25/5, the Council decided to extend the mandate of the mandate holder as a Special Rapporteur on minority issues. The present report, which was prepared pursuant to resolutions 6/15 and 19/23, contains the recommendations made by the Forum at its thirteenth session, held on 19 and 20 November 2020. At that session, the Forum considered the theme “Hate speech, social media and minorities”. The work of the Forum was guided by the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Fernand de Varennes. The Chair of the session was Natalie Alkiviadou. Due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the thirteenth session of the Forum was held entirely online and the plenary sessions were webcasted. Less than 400 participants attended, including representatives of Member States; United Nations mechanisms, bodies and specialized agencies, funds and programmes; intergovernmental organizations, regional organizations and mechanisms in the field of human rights; national human rights institutions and other relevant national bodies; academics and experts on minority issues; Internet companies and social media platforms; representatives of minorities; and minority and nongovernmental organizations. 2. The recommendations in the present report are drawn primarily from the discussions and contributions made by participants at the thirteenth session of the Forum and reflect the contributions made by the participants of the two regional forums, for Europe1 and for Asia and the Pacific, 2 on the same topic organized online under the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and coordinated by the Tom Lantos Institute and other organizations and networks. The recommendations are based on international law and standards and good practices in the areas of hate speech and social media. They are aimed at providing guidance to better take into account and reflect regional contexts and conditions, and at also providing greater access and opportunities for minorities and experts at the regional level to contribute to the further implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. 3. Key elements of the legal and normative framework from a human rights perspective include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Specifically, on the topic of hate speech and social media, the following instruments are also a reference: the Rabat Plan of Action on the prohibition of advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech. 4. The recommendations of the thirteenth session of the Forum are organized under the four agenda items that framed the discussion during the session. The recommendations: (a) Aim to address the overwhelming scale of hate speech targeting minorities on social media; 1 2 2 The full text of the recommendations of the European regional forum, held online on 21 and 22 September 2020, are available at www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/ MinorityIssues/Session13/Europe_Regional_Forum.pdf. The full text of the recommendations of the Asia-Pacific regional forum, held online on 19 and 20 October 2020, are available at www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/MinorityIssues/ Session13/Recs_Asia-Pacific_Regional_Forum.pdf.