In 2001, the Council of Europe passed a convention on cybercrime. It was the first international treaty seeking to address computer crime and Internet crimes by harmonizing national laws, improving…

The Convention on Cybercrime was deliberately designed to extend beyond Europe, allowing non-European countries to accede, making it an international treaty rather than a regional one.

The Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime, which entered into force on 1 March 2006, specifically obligates participating states to criminalize the dissemination of racist and xenophobic material through computer systems. This protocol expanded the original 2001 treaty by addressing hate-based content online, requiring member states to update their domestic laws accordingly. It was a targeted extension to combat a specific category of cybercrime not fully addressed by the original convention.

The protocol did not place the convention on hold or condition its operation on the inclusion of additional states; it came into force and added new obligations to existing signatories.

The convention was open for signature by all Council of Europe member states and eligible non-member states regardless of language, and was not limited to English-speaking countries.