A/HRC/26/49 34. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has been enhancing its work in combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance on the Internet, starting in 2003, when the OSCE Ministerial Council made a commitment to combat hate crimes fuelled by racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic propaganda on the Internet. In 2009, OSCE assigned the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights with the task of exploring the potential link between the use of the Internet and bias-motivated violence and the harm it causes, as well as eventual practical steps to be taken.5 More recently, in 2010, OSCE adopted the Astana Declaration in which it called upon Member States, in cooperation with civil society, to increase their efforts to counter the incitement to imminent violence and hate crimes, including through the Internet, while respecting the freedom of expression, and for using the Internet to promote democracy and tolerance education. 35. In 1998, the European Union adopted an action plan that encouraged self-regulatory initiatives to deal with illegal and harmful Internet content, including the creation of a European network of hotlines for Internet users to report illegal content such as child pornography; the development of self-regulatory and content-monitoring schemes by access and content providers; and the development of internationally compatible and interoperable rating and filtering schemes to protect users. In May 2005, the European Union extended the action plan, entitled the “‘Safer Internet plus’ programme”, for the period 2005-2008, to promote safer use of the Internet and new online technologies, and particularly to fight against illegal content, such as child pornography and racist material, and content that is potentially harmful to children or unwanted by the end-user. More recently, theSafer Internet Programme (2009-2013) was implemented to promote safer use of the Internet and other communication technologies, to educate users, particularly children, parents and carers, and to fight against illegal content and harmful conduct online, such as “grooming and bullying”. 36. Other regional initiatives have been taken to reach a common understanding and coordination on principles and standards for the fight against cybercrime and to improve cybersecurity. In 2002, the Commonwealth of Nations developed a model law on cybercrime that provided a legal framework to harmonize legislation within the Commonwealth and to enable international cooperation. The same year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development completed its Guidelines for the Security of Information Systems and Networks. It is now conducting a review of the Guidelines. 37. Similar regional initiatives aimed at reaching a common understanding and coordination on principles and standards for fighting cybercrime and improving cybersecurity have also been taken in other regional organizations. In 2001, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) adopted a work programme to implement the ASEAN Plan of Action to Combat Transnational Crime. At the thirteenth ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime, in 2013, a work programme for 2013-2015 was adopted, which focused also on cybercrime and cybersecurity. In 2002, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) issued a cybersecurity strategy that outlined five areas for cooperation, including legal developments, information-sharing and cooperation, security and technical guidelines, public awareness, and training and education. More recently, APEC reiterated the commitment made to strengthen the domestic legal and regulatory framework on cybercrime and encouraged member States in particular to create strategies to create a trusted, secure and sustainable online environment, to address the misuse of the Internet, to develop watch, warning and incident response and recovery capabilities to help prevent cyberattacks, and to support cooperative efforts among economies to promote a 5 10 Available from http://www.osce.org/cio/40695.