A/HRC/48/77 Italy 54. The Government of Italy reported on the mandate and role of the National Office against Racial Discrimination, which was responsible for protection against all forms of discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnic origin, religion or belief, age and sexual orientation or gender identity. The Office contributed to monitoring trends and manifestations of contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance at the national level and played a role in recording, managing and analysing complaints of discrimination. The Office had provided support to victims of discrimination through a contact centre, collecting data on and monitoring causes of discrimination. Over the past few years, the reports handled by the Office had confirmed that discrimination on the ground of race or ethnic origin was the most prevalent, followed by religion and sexual orientation or gender identity. 55. Italy reported on its legislative framework to combat racism, xenophobia, radicalization and violent extremism. A technical working group for the recognition of the definition of antisemitism had been established through a ministerial decree dated 16 June 2020. The working group had delivered its final report in January 2021, which contained a proposal for a national strategy against antisemitism that would be presented to the current Government for approval. The strategy had been drafted following the requirements set forth by the Council of the European Union in its declaration on mainstreaming the fight against antisemitism across policy areas. Regarding measures aimed at combating hate speech online, the strategy included a recommendation to approve parliamentary proposals that favoured changes in social media platform policies in order to guarantee a uniform and efficient system for reporting and removing hate speech. The strategy presented a comprehensive plan of action to combat antisemitism and any other form of discrimination. 56. Regarding the prevention and combating of online hate speech, the Postal and Communications Police had begun to implement, throughout the national territory, strategies to identify web platforms used to disseminate such messages and the authors of those messages. The serious ongoing social and health emergency, together with the restrictions introduced by governmental decrees to counter the spread of COVID-19, had inevitably led to intense counterinformation activity, which in turn had spurred acts of incitement and protest. Kyrgyzstan 57. The Government of Kyrgyzstan reported that article 4 of the Constitution prohibited the creation of political parties on a religious or ethnic basis, as well as the pursuit of political goals by religious associations. Kyrgyzstan was taking measures to counter and eradicate manifestations of extremism and its trends. The following religious organizations had been banned due to extremism: Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Taliban movement, the Unification Church, At Takfir Wal-Hijra, Akromiya and Yakyn Inkar. 58. Article 16 of the Constitution guaranteed the principle of equality, and discrimination based on race and ethnicity was punishable by law. Following up on recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Government had adopted antidiscrimination legislation, which had been included in its interdepartmental plan for 2019– 2022. A new law on counteracting extremist activity was also being developed. 59. Between 2013 and 2017, a strategy on strengthening the unity of the people and interethnic relations had been successfully implemented; a specific agency had been created to ensure the implementation. In 2014, the agency had created a system for early response to and prevention of interethnic conflicts. Since 2014, the early warning system had carried out 10,128 preventive measures, and considered 5,908 appeals from citizens on the ground. The agency had also exchanged information with various national authorities and bodies working to combat extremism. Malta 60. The Government of Malta reported on the development of its first National Action Plan against Racism and Xenophobia. The Human Rights Directorate coordinated a two-year project entitled “Equality for All in Malta”, which was funded under the Rights, Equality and 10