international human rights law and standards, including the Rabat Plan of Action; ensure the greatest possible transparency, accessibility and consistency in the application of their content policies, decisions and actions, and clarity in the definition of their hate speech policies in particular; ensure that any enforcement of their own hate speech policies involves an evaluation of such factors as context and the harm of the content, including by ensuring that any use of automation or artificial intelligence tools involves human beings; and ensure that such contextual analysis involves groups most affected by content identified as hate speech by ensuring that such groups are involved in the development and implementation of the most effective approaches to address harms caused by hate speech on the platforms. Dr. Parmar added that companies should also ensure that their content moderators and fact-checkers are trained in international human rights standards, and have a sound understanding of local cultures, contexts and languages including their nuances; translate content policies into at least all supported languages of the particular platform and that automated detections include most commonly used languages; support the capacity of civil society groups to counter hate speech, including by providing data analytics tools to inform their advocacy; and ensure the meaningful participation of communities from across the world, especially the Global South. Mr. Gerald Tapuka, Senior Correspondent and Deputy Director for Africa at The Organisation for World Peace noted that States, intergovernmental organisations, internet companies and social media platforms must not remain indifferent to hate speech against minorities. He stated that intergovernmental organisations have a major role to play because their influence goes beyond boundaries with the leverage of government and internet companies, but very few make hate speech a priority. Intergovernmental organisations should organise encounters with states at the highest levels, organise educational measures and campaigns, train media workers, incorporate social media departments and track hate speech. He also provided an overview of the situation in some African countries. In this regard, he mentioned the fact that some of them have difficulties to trace, identify and counteract hate messages. Mr. Tapuka noted the relevant role of education on hate speech and indicated the need to introduce social media related issues in schools. He highlighted the responsibility of internet companies in addressing hate speech; their need to improve their conduct and to collaborate with local actors, including local authorities. He concluded stating that in general, the problematic of hate speech should not cause media censorship or internet blackout in our society; and it should not be an opportunity for human rights abuses. Discussion Participants raised issues and presented initiatives, such as: - Preparation of a legislative initiative aiming to place more responsibility on social media providers to monitor and quickly erase hateful content. The initiative includes extending the application of the criminal offence “incitement to hatred” also to individuals and 17