A/78/195 and regional forums held the same year, participants all reiterated the connection between human rights and the use of a minority language in education, and that States should include an education policy and implementation plan that safeguarded the right to receive education in the mother tongue at all levels where practicable. Such a policy should include minimum standards for the use of minority languages in public education and a built-in monitoring and evaluation system (A/HRC/43/62, para. 30). 20. Despite these pronouncements and developments, and the Special Rapporteur’s efforts to raise the visibility, importance and awareness of the human rights dimension of these matters for minorities, the situation in relation to the use of their languages in education has not evolved favourably during this period. The Special Rapporteur and other special procedures mandate holders have in recent years been involved in a significant number of communications 6 in which grave allegations were raised of restrictions on the use of minority languages as a medium of instruction in public and even private schools. This situation raises human rights concerns of discrimination in international law under such provisions as articles 2 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as breaches of the rights of minorities to use their languages with other members of their community under article 27 of the Covenant. C. Hate speech and social media 21. As with other thematic priorities, the Special Rapporteur consistently and continuously raised concerns about the targeting of minorities in hate speech on social media in his awareness-raising activities, conference participation and country visits. In his 2021 annual report to the Human Rights Council, he pointed out and warned that the rapid spread of “a disease of the mind” through social media had been witnessed in 2020. 22. Hate speech on social media is spreading and strengthening. Minorities are overwhelmingly the main victims of hate and incitement to violence and discrimination. Where disaggregated data are available on hate speech on social media or on hate crimes, approximately 70 per cent or more of those targeted tend to belong to minorities. 23. The menace of hate speech affects minorities first and foremost. Whether by omission or not, many actors in the field fail to systematically acknowledge and explicitly admit who the main targets are of racism, prejudice, scapegoating and even incitement to violence on social media. By not specifically mentioning minorities, the extent and brutality of hate speech is ignored and even camouflaged in a fog of generalities. In a sense, everyone becomes an accomplice to hate when the main victims remain unnamed. The result is fertile ground to feed intolerance and exclusion, the godparents of hate towards minorities. To add insult to injury, hate has become extremely profitable for some and useful for others ( A/HRC/46/57). 24. The Special Rapporteur continued to raise concerns over the explosive increase in hate speech targeting ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities on social media during his mandate. Examples of this include a 786 per cent increase in India of hate __________________ 6 23-15818 These include China (communication No. AL CHN 6/2022), Estonia (communication No. AL EST 1/2023), France (communication No. OL FRA 3/2022) and Latvia (communication No. OL LVA 1/2022). Similar concerns were also raised in the Special Rapporteur’s reports on his country visits to Botswana (A/HRC/40/64/Add.2), Kyrgyzstan (A/HRC/46/57/Add.1) and Spain (A/HRC/43/47/Add.1). 7/21