A/HRC/48/77 109. Article 4 of the Convention also requires States parties to undertake to adopt immediate and positive measures designed to eradicate all incitement to, or acts of, such discrimination, and to make punishable by law all dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred, incitement to racial discrimination, as well as all acts of violence or incitement to such acts against any race or group of persons of another colour or ethnic origin. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has recommended concrete guidance for States parties on the adoption of legislation combating racist speech falling under article 4, and the Special Rapporteur encourages States to review general recommendation No. 35 (2013) in order to benefit from that guidance. In the general recommendation, the Committee recalls that the proscription of racist hate speech and the flourishing of freedom of expression should be seen as complementary, and that that the rights to equality and freedom from discrimination, and the right to freedom of expression, should be fully reflected in law, policy and practice as mutually supportive human rights. 110. Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights protects freedom of opinion and of expression. Any restriction on freedom of speech must not only be a matter of necessity, but must be proportionately tailored to achieve the legitimate end that warrants the restriction. Article 20 of the Covenant states specifically that States parties must prohibit, by law, any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence. The Human Rights Committee and a number of other human rights mechanisms have interpreted this provision as creating a high threshold, because limitations on speech must remain exceptional. When individuals or groups meet this high threshold, including in the context of antisemitic hate speech, States must hold these actors to account for their violations of international human rights law. 111. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has reiterated that freedom of expression is integrated into the Convention, and that the Convention contributes to a fuller understanding of the parameters of freedom of expression under international human rights law. For determining what racist expression should be punishable by law, the Committee stresses the importance of context, which includes: (a) the content and form of the speech; (b) the economic, social and political climate; (c) the position or status of the speaker; (d) the reach of the speech; and (e) the objectives of the speech. Member States, and even private actors such as the technology companies that often directly interface with racist and xenophobic content online, must remain vigilant in their identification of racist expression in national climates in which certain groups, including neo-Nazis, are openly committed to spreading and enforcing intolerance. The Committee warns that racist speech may sometimes rely on indirect language to disguise its targets or objectives, and may rely on coded symbolic communication to achieve its ends. Even incitement may be express or implied, through actions such as displays of racist symbols or the distribution of materials as well as words.2 112. Member States must take urgent action to ensure that racist expression violating the standards set out in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination are made punishable by law. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has recommended that the criminalization of forms of racist expression be reserved for serious cases, to be proven beyond reasonable doubt, that the application of criminal sanctions be governed by the principles of legality, proportionality and necessity, and that less serious cases should be dealt with using non-criminal sanctions.3 113. The Special Rapporteur also recalls that in paragraph 84 of the Durban Declaration, the participants at the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance condemned the persistence and resurgence of neo-Nazism, neofascism and violent nationalist ideologies based on racial or national prejudice. In paragraph 85 of the Declaration, they condemned political platforms and organizations based on, among other things, doctrines of racial superiority and related discrimination, as well as legislation and practices based on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, highlighting that they were incompatible with democracy and transparent and accountable 2 3 18 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, general recommendation No. 35, paras. 7 and 16. Ibid., para. 12.