Tolerance and non-discrimination Representatives of NGOs participate in the expert meeting “Incitement to Hatred vs. Freedom of Expression: Challenges of Combating Hate Crimes Motivated by Hate on the Internet”, 22 March in Warsaw. (OSCE) engage in discussions with government representatives from participating States and develop contacts and co-operation with representatives of organizations from other parts of the OSCE region. In June, ODIHR organized a meeting of civil society representatives in Astana in preparation for the High Level Conference on Tolerance and Non-discrimination held in the Kazakh capital. The aim of the meeting was to foster civil society engagement, facilitate an exchange of good practices and support coalition-building across the OSCE region. The representatives from more than 100 civil society organizations that attended used the meeting to produce a set of concrete recommendations, which was presented at the High Level Conference. Members of ODIHR’s Advisory Council on Freedom of Religion or Belief and ODIHR staff also conducted a one-day training session on 8 December in Vienna for 23 participants from non-governmental organizations and religious or belief communities from across the OSCE region. The training focused on international standards and their practical application in the field, particularly in relation to issues such as the registration of religious associations, access to places of worship, religious symbols, religious education and freedom of religion. Addressing Hate on the Internet Since 2003, the OSCE has made specific reference to the role racist, xenophobic, anti-Semitic and other hateful content on the Internet can play in fuelling hate crime. OSCE Ministerial Council Decision No. 9/09, adopted in Athens in December 2009, tasked ODIHR “to explore, in consultations with the participating States and in co-operation with relevant international organizations and civil society partners, 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”. In this regard, ODIHR convened the expert meeting “Incitement to Hatred vs. Freedom of Expression: Challenges of Combating Hate Crimes Motivated by Hate on the Internet” in Warsaw on 22 March. The meeting generated significant interest, drawing 97 participants from 31 participating States and one OSCE Partner for Co-operation. These included representatives from governments, international organizations, law-enforcement agencies, prosecutors’ offices, civil society organizations and national minority groups. At follow-up meetings in Amsterdam on 10 May and Vienna on 22 November, ODIHR engaged with representatives from social-network providers in discussions of the issue. ODIHR Annual Report 2010 51