A/79/151 acceptable form of speech. 169 Sexual orientation was among the most reported grounds of hate speech in the 2022 evaluation of the European Union Code of Conduct on countering illegal hate speech online. 170 58. A noticeable trend in recent years has been the increase in online political campaigning. These campaign methods often remain outside the scope of regulation or oversight. There is a general understanding, however, that what is illegal offline should be illegal online, and that freedoms should be protected equally online and offline. The regulation of political speech online is tightly linked to the more general issue of Internet governance. Cases of website and search blockages related to LGBT issues are well documented in several countries. 171 Regulation of the responsibility of platforms for third-party content under national legislation is also relevant and necessary to counter hate speech against LGBT persons and communities. Offensive user-generated content can spread quickly on Internet platforms before its problematic nature can be assessed by judicial or other means. 172 59. Social media channels provide additional opportunities for LGBT candidates, as the message is controlled by the candidate, rather than by potentially biased editorial viewpoints. However, social media companies control the distribution of messages. These “platforms have reportedly suppressed lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer activism”, 173 and their algorithms may not be inclusive or neutral when it comes to issues of sexual orientation or gender identity. In their stated efforts to increase transparency and combat disinformation, several social media companies have developed policies for advertising on issues of social importance or political relevance. Advertisers are required to label their materials accordingly, and social media companies apply controls to verify the identities of advertisers and compliance of the materials with policies. 60. Key to the development of these policies are the perception of safety and the trust of users. Meta policies related to combating hate speech include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics. 174 In line with this, policies ban posting messages that advocate for political exclusion, “which means denying the right to political participation”. Meta focuses its engagement with LGBT groups on hate speech, bullying and harassment. 175 However, other reports suggest that social media platforms should invest significantly more effort in content moderation, across regions and languages. 176 Monitoring of online political discourse in Brazil highlights “the lack of effective regulation by service providers to prevent and suppress inappropriate content from their networks”. 177 __________________ 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 24-12964 Oana Ştefăniţă and Diana-Maria Buf, “Hate speech in social media and its effects on the LGBT community: a review of the current research”, Romanian Journal of Communication and Public Relations, vol. 23, No. 1 (2021), pp. 47–55. European Commission, “Countering illegal hate speech online: 7th evaluation the Code of Conduct” (2022). See OutRight Action International, the CitizenLab and Open Observatory of Network Interference, No Access: LGBTIQ Website Censorship in Six Countries (New York, 2022). Submission by the national human rights institution of Brazil, p. 11. A/HRC/38/35, para. 27. See https://transparency.fb.com/en-gb/policies/community-standards/hate-speech. Meta, Human Rights Report: Insights and Actions 2022 (2022), p. 40. Human Rights Watch, “All This Terror Because of a Photo”: Digital Targeting and its Offline Consequences for LGBT People in the Middle East and North Africa (2023); and Human Rights Watch, “Middle East, North Africa: digital targeting of LGBT people”, 21 February 2023. Available at www.hrw.org/report/2023/02/21/all-terror-because-photo/digital-targeting-and-itsoffline-consequences-lgbt and www.hrw.org/news/2023/02/21/middle-east-north-africa-digitaltargeting-lgbt-people. Submission by the national human rights institution of Brazil, p. 12. See https://internetlab.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/MonitorA-Relato-rio_Ingle-s_Digital.pdf. 21/25