A/HRC/26/49 individuals, it has also increased their vulnerability by collecting their personal information, which can be accessed by extremists, allowing the groups to extend their reach. The Internet and social media can also empower extremist groups by giving them the illusion that their hateful beliefs are shared by a large community. This justification of their beliefs sometimes affords them the confidence to follow through with hate crimes in real life. Thus, hate and racism move from the virtual to the real world, with a disproportionate impact on marginalized groups. C. Legal, policy and regulatory frameworks and measures taken at the international, regional and national levels by Internet and social media providers 22. In response to these above-described developments, international and regional organizations and States have undertaken a variety of legal and policy initiatives. Civil society and the private sector, and Internet and social media providers in particular, have also contributed to addressing this phenomenon through various measures and initiatives. 1. International frameworks and initiatives 23. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination provides in its article 4 (a) that States parties shall declare an offence punishable by law all dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred, as well as incitement to racial discrimination; and in article 4 (b) it provides that States parties shall declare illegal and prohibit organized and all other propaganda activities which promote and incite racial discrimination. 24. A number of United Nations human rights mechanisms have addressed the issue of the use of the Internet and social media to propagate racism, racial hatred, xenophobia, racial discrimination and related intolerance. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in its general recommendation XXIX on descent-based discrimination, recommended that States take strict measures against any incitement to discrimination or violence against descent-based communities, including through the Internet. Furthermore, in its general recommendation XXX on discrimination against non-citizens, the Committee recommended that action be taken to counter any tendency to target, stigmatize, stereotype or profile, on the basis of race, colour, descent, and national or ethnic origin, members of “non-citizen” population groups, in particular by politicians, officials, educators and the media, on the Internet and other electronic communications networks. The Committee has also expressed concern at the dissemination of racist propaganda on the Internet in a number of recent concluding observations issued after consideration of regular reports submitted by States parties, recalling that such dissemination falls within the scope of prohibitions of article 4 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. 25. More recently, at its eighty-first session, held in August 2012, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination organized a thematic discussion on racist hate speech, which also touched upon the issue of the Internet and led to the adoption by the Committee of its general recommendation XXXV on combating hate speech. In the recommendation, the Committee recalled that racist hate speech, whether originating from individuals or groups, can take many forms, notably in being disseminated through electronic media, the Internet and social networking sites, and reminded States to pay full attention to all these manifestations of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance and to take effective measures to combat them. The Committee called upon States to encourage public and private media to adopt codes of professional ethics, and recalled the essential role played by the Internet and social media in the promotion and dissemination of ideas and opinions. The Committee 7