The 20th anniversary Conference on the First Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime was held on 30-31 January in Strasbourg, under the Icelandic Presidency of the Council of Europe.  

One of the key messages from the conference was that ‘a broad range of measures by multiple stakeholders is needed to counter online xenophobia and racism’, including both legal and non-legal measures. Conference participants agreed that online xenophobia and racism have been spreading considerably. The Russian aggression against Ukraine is accompanied by hate speech and propaganda. Moreover, the increased flows of refugees and migrants resulting from armed conflict provides a further fertile ground for online hate. Hence, the relevance of the First Protocol and the added value of Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)16 on Combating Hate Speech, which inter alia provides a catalogue of measures to address online xenophobia and racism. 

The opening session outlined the “Phenomena and impact of online xenophobia and racism”, while a dedicated session on “Hate speech vs freedom of expression: criteria and boundaries” outlined in detail the comprehensive approach required within a human rights framework as provided in the Recommendation on combating hate speech and the First Additional Protocol to the Cybercrime Convention. 

The recordings of the entire conference are now available, in addition to range of other resources, on the conference webpage.