A/67/326 Decision No. 9/09 on combating hate crimes, adopted in Athens on 2 December 2009, assigned its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights the task of exploring, in consultations with the participating States and in cooperation with relevant international organizations and civil society partners, the potential link between the use of the Internet and bias-motivated violence and the harm it causes, as well as eventual practical steps to be taken. 12 39. To ensure safer use of the Internet, in 1998 the European Union adopted an action plan which encouraged self-regulatory initiatives to deal with illegal and harmful Internet content, including the creation of a European network of hotlines for Internet users to report illegal content such as child pornography; the development of self-regulatory and content-monitoring schemes by access and content providers; and the development of internationally compatible and interoperable rating and filtering schemes to protect users. In May 2005, the European Union extended the Action Plan, entitled the “‘Safer Internet plus’ programme”, for the period 2005-2008. The aims of the programme were to continue to promote safer use of the Internet and new online technologies, and particularly to fight against illegal content such as child pornography and racist material and content which is potentially harmful to children or unwanted by the end-user. 13 40. There are other relevant regional initiatives aimed at reaching a common understanding and coordination on principles and standards for the fight against cybercrime and enhancing cybersecurity. In 2002, the Commonwealth of Nations presented a model law on cybercrime that provides a legal framework to harmonize legislation within the Commonwealth and enable international cooperation. In 2002, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) completed guidelines for the security of information systems and networks: towards a culture of security. In 2009, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) adopted a directive on fighting cybercrime in the ECOWAS region that provides a legal framework for its member States. The East African Community framework for cyberlaw was adopted in May 2010, and provides an overview of the key legal issues related to intellectual property, competition, taxation and information security. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) issued, in 2002, a cybersecurity strategy which outlined five areas for cooperation, including legal developments, information sharing and cooperation, security and technical guidelines, public awareness, and training and education. In 2007, the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) made a recommendation to seek a joint approach on cybercrime-related issues by taking into consideration international standards. Since the preceding regional approaches to the fight against cybercrime, including specific computer-related crimes involving incitement to racial hatred and violence, are applicable only to member States of the respective organizations, their impact may be limited. Furthermore, the majority of them do not specifically address content-related offences such as the dissemination of racist ideas or incitement to racial hatred and violence on the Internet; rather, they mainly focus on other forms of cybercrime and cybersecurity concerns. __________________ 12 13 14 Available from http://www.osce.org/cio/40695. See Decision No. 854/2005/EC of 11 May 2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a multiannual Community Programme on promoting safer use of the Internet and new online technologies, in Official Journal of the European Union, vol. 48 (11 June 2005). 12-46982