A/78/538 speech. 58 The decline in important forms of counterspeech, including traditional media sources, the explosion of digital platforms without correlating increases in digital literacy, declining trust in traditional public institutions and weaknesses in public information systems are also pertinent factors. 59 56. Such trends interact with societal trends relating to racism and racial discrimination, including systemic forms of racism and racial discrimination, grounded in the negative legacies of colonialism and slavery. According to a 2021 report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, systemic racism is broadly understood as: The operation of a complex, interrelated system of laws, policies, practices and attitudes in State institutions, the private sector and societal structures that, combined, result in direct or indirect, intentional or unintentional, de jure or de facto discrimination, distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference on the basis of race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin. Systemic racism often manifests itself in pervasive racial stereotypes, prejudice and bias and is frequently rooted in histories and legacies of enslavement, the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and colonialism (A/HRC/47/53, para. 9). As articulated above, digital technologies, governed in a “race -neutral” or “colourblind” manner, have the capacity to compound existing societal inequities (see A/HRC/44/57). The core features of systemic racism, therefore, make those from racial and ethnic groups particularly vulnerable to online racist hate speech. Moreover, pervasive and often inadequately addressed racial stereotypes, pre judice and bias provide fertile ground for such speech. 57. The way that online racist hate speech can harm society was articulated in the preceding section. As well as being destructive at the societal level, the phenomenon can also be seen as a symptom of the broader degradation of the social fabric, driven by the trends described above. The complexity and depth of the crises facing societies globally, and their bidirectional relationship with online racist hate speech, make it challenging to effectively address the phenomenon. Moreover, efforts by States and other stakeholders to prevent and address online racist hate speech that do not consider these contextual drivers are less likely to be effective. Lack of research and disaggregated data on online racist hate speech 58. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that there is a dearth of research and data, disaggregated by race, colour, descent, national origin, ethnic origin and/or religion, on the drivers, prevalence, perpetrators, victims and impact of online racist hate speech. 60 The lack of such information inhibits the ability of Governments, companies and other stakeholders to develop laws and policies that will effectively target the root causes of online racist hate speech and meet the needs of those affected. It can also render the experiences of those from racial and ethnic groups less visible within initiatives to prevent and address online racist hate speech. 59. A lack of such information relating to online racist hate speech mirrors broad er weaknesses in the collection and coordination of racially and ethnically disaggregated data across many different spheres of policymaking. In paragraph 92 of the Durban Programme of Action, States are urged to “collect, compile, analyse, disseminate and __________________ 58 59 60 23-20290 Denti and Faggian, “Where do angry birds tweet?”. Submissions from Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights Association and Clínica Jurídica y Responsabilidad Social – Sección Derechos de la Niñez; Laub, “Hate speech on social media”; and A/HRC/47/25. See communications AL OTH 125/2022, AL OTH 126/2022, AL OTH 127/2022 and AL OTH 128/2022. Communications are available at https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/Tmsearch/TMDocuments. 19/22