A/HRC/35/41 22. The Special Rapporteur expressed concern about the vesting of decision-making power in individuals who lack accountability to determine which content is “racist”, “illegal” or “inciting hatred.” He noted that Internet service providers and social media platforms should not make decisions regarding user-generated content or be empowered to remove or filter content without external input. 23. The Special Rapporteur highlighted civil society initiatives which complemented those taken by Governments at the international, regional and national levels to combat the spread of racism and xenophobia on the Internet. Those initiatives ranged from knowledgesharing platforms to the establishment of complaints bureaus regarding discrimination on the Internet and dedicated monitoring and reporting on hate groups and their activities. 24. The Special Rapporteur noted that the Internet and social media will continue to be used by extremist and racist groups to promote racial discrimination and violence and, for that reason, it would remain an important issue for the mandate. More studies are still needed on how the Internet can be more effectively used to prevent and counter incitement to racial discrimination and violence. C. Focus on prevention of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance 25. In his 2012 report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/20/33), the Special Rapporteur focused on the prevention of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, in accordance with the provisions of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.7 He noted that, while a robust legal framework existed for punishing racism and racial discrimination, the legal framework for prevention remained weak, thereby minimizing the effectiveness of punitive measures. 26. The Special Rapporteur outlined five possible preventive measures and policies aimed at ensuring the participation of groups who were discriminated against and marginalized in public and political life, promoting equality of opportunity in social and economic areas and eradicating poverty, mainstreaming a gender perspective, improving the role of education and implementing special measures. He considered that the invisibility of poor and excluded ethnic groups contributed to their vulnerability and reinforced prejudices and discrimination. Broader participation would offer new perspectives and increase interaction. He highlighted the correlation between socioeconomic inequality and racial discrimination: unequal distribution of resources and infrastructure reinforced exclusion of minorities and prevented them from exercising their economic and social rights. Racism and racial discrimination were manifested differently for women and girls, including through sexual violence in conflict situations, coerced sterilization and a lack of access to remedies and complaint mechanisms. He emphasized that education could help to create new values and attitudes and called upon States to establish inclusive school systems that were representative of society’s ethnic and cultural diversity, train teachers on racism and racial discrimination, use unbiased textbooks and promote classes that highlighted the history and positive contributions of minorities. Finally, he noted that special measures could have both preventive and corrective functions. 27. Preventing racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance was a multidimensional challenge and any effective preventive agenda must involve various actors. States bore the primary responsibility, but also required the cooperation of political parties, civil society, national human rights institutions, the media and private actors. In certain areas, such as education, capacity-building and training, awareness-raising, research and monitoring, non-State actors played a central role. The Special Rapporteur highlighted other tools to prevent racism and racial discrimination, including new information technologies such as the Internet — although the intersection of poverty and racism meant that excluded minority groups might have less access to the Internet and States should therefore adopt measures to make the Internet widely available, thereby increasing 7 See www.un.org/WCAR/durban.pdf. 7