A/78/538 communication applications. The Special Rapporteur also received information about the existence of racist hate speech in online gaming environments. 9 Certain manifestations of online racist hate speech are serious enough to be considered incitement to discrimination, hatred or violence, which is prohibited under international human rights law. The Special Rapporteur elaborates on the criteria established by international law for determining when hate speech should be considered incitement in section IV. Nexus between online racist hate speech and disinformation and misinformation 16. Online racist hate speech can be linked to the dissemination of mis information and disinformation. 10 The Special Rapporteur recognizes the lack of definitions for misinformation and disinformation within the international human rights law framework, as well as some of the inherent challenges of defining these concepts, as discussed by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression in her 2021 report to the Human Rights Council on disinformation (A/HRC/47/25, paras. 9–15). For the purpose of the present report, the Special Rapporteur has aligned herself with the definition presented in the aforementioned report, which states that “disinformation is understood as false information that is disseminated intentionally to cause serious social harm and misinformation as the dissemination of false information unknowingly” (para. 15). 17. The Special Rapporteur asserts that disinformation and misinformation are distinct from online racist hate speech. While the focus of the present report is on online racist hate speech, she believes that it is important, however, to recognize that there is a nexus between online racist hate speech on the one hand and disinformation and misinformation on the other, in particular in an online context. As elaborated on below, the way that communications and materials are shared in the online context provides for their rapid and wide-reaching dissemination and can, therefore, be fertile ground for disinformation and misinformation. 11 Rapid spread and vast reach of online racist hate speech 18. Given that anyone with access to the Internet can quickly communicate and spread materials and that there is little control over their credibility, veracity and potential to cause harm, the Internet serves as a tool for spreading racism, racial hatred and ideas of racial superiority. Such communications and materials, including online racist hate speech, can be spread quickly because of the ability of those sharin g content to sometimes be anonymous online, as well as the broad reach of online platforms, given that they have become integrated into the everyday lives of people around the world, and the ease and commonplace nature of sharing such communications and materials on digital and social media platforms. 12 Furthermore, communications and materials shared online, such as images, memes and short videos, are often highly superficial, which makes it difficult for the users of digital platforms to contextualize and fact-check what is presented. 13 19. Another crucial factor in the rapid spread and powerful reach of online racist hate speech is the use of content-shaping algorithms by online platforms to determine __________________ 9 10 11 12 13 23-20290 Submission from Mazidatun Maftukhah. Submission from Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights Association. Submissions from Ecuador, Guatemala, Morocco and Romania, as well as from FakeReporter, the National Human Rights Commission of Mexico, Kailash Union and the Federal Public Defenders’ Office of Brazil. Submissions from the Kingdom of the Netherlands and WYK Advocate. Submission from the Federal Public Defenders’ Office of Brazil and Nuurrianti Jalli, “TikTok’s poor content moderation fuels the spread of hate speech and misinformation ahead of Indonesia 2024 elections”, The Conversation, 10 April 2023. 7/22