A/HRC/26/49 III. Use of the Internet and social media for propagating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance A. Context 13. In his report to the General Assembly (A/67/326), the Special Rapporteur undertook a preliminary examination of the issue of racism and the Internet, illustrating some of the key trends and challenges posed by the use of the Internet to propagate racism, racial hatred, xenophobia, racial discrimination and related intolerance. 14. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur builds upon the previous discussions, and illustrates some of the more recent manifestations of racism and hate on the Internet and social media networks. He discusses the applicable legislation and standards at the international, regional and national levels, but also through the norms of some key providers of social media platforms available on the Internet. Drawing from studies and from an expert meeting that he convened in New York on 11 and 12 November 2013, with the participation of academics, representatives of Internet and social media providers and civil society, the Special Rapporteur seeks to provide an updated overview of the remaining challenges and some good practices in the fight against racism and discrimination on and through the Internet. 15. At the above-mentioned expert meeting, discussions were held on the key issues, dilemmas and challenges posed in combating the propagation of racist and xenophobic content and incitement to violence on the Internet and social media, the governance of racist and xenophobic content on the Internet, and the balance between the protection of freedom of opinion and expression and the control of racist and xenophobic content and incitement to violence on the Internet. Views were exchanged on the key legal and policy measures taken at the national, regional and international levels, and good practices in combating racist and xenophobic content and in the promotion of the Internet as a tool against racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia were highlighted. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Association for Progressive Communications and Article 19 for their role in the successful outcome of the expert meeting. B. Manifestations of racism, xenophobia, hate speech and other related forms of intolerance on the Internet and social media networks 16. The Internet, unlike traditional forms of communication and information technologies, has a tremendous capacity to transmit and disseminate information instantly to different parts of the world. It enables users to access and provide content with relative anonymity. Materials and content available on the Internet can be shared across national borders and be hosted in different countries with different legal regimes. Since the worldwide web was created 25 years ago, it has brought many benefits to all aspects of modern life as it continues to spread globally; more recently, social media platforms have emerged and become increasingly popular, and made it significantly easier for users to share information, photographs and links with friends and family. Since the creation of social media platforms, the Internet has evolved even more rapidly, to the extent that, today, every minute, 100 hours of videos are posted on the YouTube platform, and more than 1.5 billion photographs are uploaded every week on the Facebook network. 17. One of the greatest drawbacks of the Internet, however, is the fact that it also provides a platform to racist and hateful movements. The authors Abraham H. Foxman and 5