Protocol on Xenophobia and Racism

The "Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime, concerning the criminalization of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems," (Treaty no. 189) generally known as the Protocol on Xenophobia and Racism, is an extension of the Budapest Convention’s substantive, procedural and international-cooperation scope. It focuses on offenses related to racist or xenophobic propaganda online. Apart from harmonizing the substantive law elements of cybercrime, the Protocol aims to improve the ability of the State Parties to use the means and avenues of international cooperation set out in the Convention on Cybercrime in the areas of xenophobia and racism.

The treaty was opened in Strasbourg on January 28, 2003, and went into force after five EC member states ratified it on March 1, 2006; as of February 2022, it has been ratified by 33 countries.