A/HRC/35/41 effectiveness of measures taken to remedy discrimination and highlighted best practices. The Special Rapporteur noted that training alone was likely insufficient, but when paired with other measures, might be effective. He also found that diversity in law enforcement agencies could help to prevent profiling. 18. The Special Rapporteur highlighted the issue of profiling, not just because it remained prevalent, but also because law enforcement constitutes the immediate and streetlevel representation of the State. Indeed, it is through law enforcement and interaction with law enforcement officers that citizens or ordinary residents experience the power of the State. Racial discrimination in law enforcement is also indicative of the marginal status of groups who are discriminated against and a signal that they will likely suffer racial discrimination in their other interactions with the State. Not surprisingly therefore, the Special Rapporteur noted in the course of his thematic studies as well as through various country visits that individuals who routinely experienced profiling tended to belong to racial, ethnic and national groups which were historically discriminated against or which continued to experience racial discrimination. B. Racism on the Internet and social media 19. In his 2014 report to the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur examined how new information technologies, such as the Internet and social media, have been utilized to disseminate racist ideas, hate messages and incitement to racial hatred and violence (A/HRC/26/49). With the development of technology, extremist hate sites grew both in number and sophistication and extremist groups found the Internet to be a very useful tool for recruiting new members. In the report, the Special Rapporteur expressed concern about incidents of racist violence and crimes against minorities, the lack of adequate data and the use of the Internet and social media networks by extremist groups and movements to disseminate information and recruit new members. Nonetheless, legal, regulatory, technical and other practical challenges remain a barrier to the fight against racism and incitement to racial hatred and violence on the Internet owing to the lack of clarity in legal terms, differing laws and the trans-border nature of the Internet. 20. The mandate holders have monitored this issue over time and it has been addressed in reports to the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council since 1998. In one of the first reports to address the issue, which was submitted to the General Assembly in 1998, it was noted that over 200 Internet sites worldwide were disseminating racist propaganda (A/53/269). The number of sites has increased exponentially over the last decade. The 1999 report (A/54/347) contained a more in-depth discussion of the issue, including reference to studies and publications as well as measures taken by Governments, and recommendations. In 2000, the mandate holder again raised the issue and noted that the number of sites posting racist propaganda had risen to thousands, particularly owing to a lack of international regulation (A/55/304). In the 2002 (A/57/204), 2003 (A/58/313) and 2004 (A/59/329) reports to the General Assembly, the mandate holder highlighted new measures taken by Governments and other bodies to increase international cooperation on the issue, including the Council of Europe Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime concerning the criminalization of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems of 2003. In the 2004 report, the mandate holder noted that there was still disagreement as to the most appropriate strategy for preventing the dissemination of racist messages on the Internet. In his report to the Human Rights Council in 2014 (A/HRC/26/49 and Corr.1), the current Special Rapporteur discussed the growth of the phenomenon since those earlier reports. 21. In that report, the Special Rapporteur also reported on the efficiency of the measures taken by governments to remedy such use of the Internet and on the impact of those measures on other human rights, particularly freedom of expression. He highlighted best practices in the field at the international, regional and domestic levels and initiatives taken by civil society and the private sector. He also noted other efforts that may be a cause for concern as they involve private regulation of individuals’ expression. 6