First Additional #Protocol to the #Convention on #Cybercrime, concerning the #criminalisation of acts of a #racist and #xenophobic nature committed through #computersystems (ETS No. 189)

Official text and translations

 Treaty Office: English First Additional Protocol | French First Additional Protocol

 Treaty Office: Official and non-official languages

 Treaty Office: Details of Treaty No. 189

 Treaty Office: Explanatory report

The international community has made important progress in the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. Yet, the desire for a world free of racial hatred and bias remains only partly fulfilled. As technological, commercial and economic developments bring the peoples of the world closer together, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance continue to exist in our societies. Modern and powerful means to support racism and xenophobia enable certain people to disseminate easily and widely expressions containing such ideas. In order to investigate and prosecute such persons, international co-operation is vital. The Convention on Cybercrime (ETS 185) was drafted to enable mutual assistance concerning computer related crimes in the broadest sense in a flexible and modern way. The purpose of this Protocol is twofold: firstly, harmonising substantive criminal law in the fight against racism and xenophobia on the Internet and, secondly, improving international co-operation in this area.

This Protocol entails an extension of the Cybercrime Convention’s scope, including its substantive, procedural and international cooperation provisions, so as to cover also offences of racist or xenophobic propaganda. Thus, apart from harmonising the substantive law elements of such behaviour, the Protocol aims at improving the ability of the Parties to make use of the means and avenues of international cooperation set out in the Convention (ETS No. 185) in this area.