A/HRC/33/29 46. Educational institutions and other organizations engaging with youth must provide for safe spaces where young people can freely express their views in full respect of human rights, notably the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and without any fear of adverse consequences. In particular, the importance of spaces for the development of critical thinking skills, which allow youth to challenge the arguments of violent extremists, needs to be highlighted.65 A platform for debate should be provided, including to address biases and prejudices. Engaging with such ideas in an open and constructive manner is more likely to yield positive results than shutting down discussion. 47. National human rights institutions and civil society organizations can play a central role in developing human rights education and training tailored to youth. Furthermore, it is important to ensure coordination among the various providers of training courses and to ensure that youth workers themselves benefit from human rights education and training as a means of bringing a stronger human rights perspective to their work and to maintaining a democratic, tolerant and sustainable society that promotes human values and mutual respect.66 48. When engaging with youth, educators and social workers should not be required to share information about the individuals they work with unless the information is of a criminal nature or sharing it is in the best interests of a child. Requiring those working with young people to report on them not only unduly interferes with these young people’s human rights, including their right to privacy and freedom of opinion and expression, but may also have a negative impact on the effectiveness of these youth engagement programmes. C. Preventing and countering violent extremism online 49. The role of the Internet, and in particular of social media, has often been emphasized in the context of preventing and countering violent extremism. The Security Council has repeatedly called on States to strengthen international cooperation in countering the use of the Internet and social media for terrorist purposes, in particular with regard to efforts to stem the flow of foreign fighters to areas of armed conflict. 67 The Secretary-General’s Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism describes the Internet both as a platform used for recruitment efforts by violent extremist groups and as a tool for challenging the narrative propagated by such groups. 68 50. The Internet and digital technologies can be used for both positive and harmful ends. While they are crucial tools for sharing and collecting information, as well as for fostering democratic participation, their potential has also been abused by certain violent extremist groups to recruit followers. Indeed, the Internet and digital communications technologies have become a means through which human rights are exercised as well as the means through which they are violated. 51. In the era of “big data”, States as well as information and communications technology providers have the capacity to censor expression, block or filter access to information, intercept data and monitor online activity. As the OHCHR report on the right to privacy in the digital age put it, “the technological platforms upon which global political, economic and social life are increasingly reliant are not only vulnerable to mass 65 66 67 68 Input from the United Kingdom. Inputs from Finland, Morocco and Slovenia. Security Council resolutions 1373 (2001), 1624 (2005) and 2178 (2014). See A/70/674, para. 55. 15