instance has been slow with negotiations still underway for Samoa to accede to the Budapest Convention.128 INFORMATION POINT: What is the Budapest Convention?129 The Convention on Cybercrime also known as the Budapest Convention is the first international treaty seeking to address Internet and computer crime (cybercrime) by harmonizing national laws, improving investigative techniques, and increasing cooperation among nations. Its main objective, set out in the preamble, is to pursue a common criminal policy aimed at the protection of society against cybercrime, especially by adopting appropriate legislation and fostering international cooperation. The Convention aims principally at:  Harmonizing the domestic criminal substantive law elements of offenses and connected provisions in the area of cyber-crime  Providing for domestic criminal procedural law powers necessary for the investigation and prosecution of such offenses as well as other offenses committed by means of a computer system or evidence in relation to which is in electronic form  Setting up a fast and effective regime of international cooperation The Convention is accompanied by an additional protocol i.e. Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime which requires States who are parties to this protocol to criminalize the dissemination of racist and xenophobic material through computer systems, as well as threats and insults motivated by racism or xenophobia. Negotiations still underway for Samoa to accede to the Budapest Convention To address issues relating to internet access and use, the majority of those consulted agreed that Samoa needs to create legislation to protect online safety of children.130 Additionally, non-legislative measures were also suggested including the need for online service providers to commit their resources to provide public awareness and educational programmes about online safety of children and their access to unsuitable materials, online abuse and bullying.131 Get Safe Online Pacific together with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) recently launched the GET SAFE ONLINE Samoa platform which provides information and advice for parents and children on staying safe online.132 128 MCIT written submission. The Office of the Attorney General is currently conducting a review of Samoa’s legislative framework to prepare for accession to the Convention. For more information on cybercrime see Council of Europe Action against cybercrime webpage: https://www.coe.int/en/web/cybercrime/home. 129 See Convention on Cybercrime 2001 here: https://rm.coe.int/1680081561. 130 Focus groups consultations (Upolu & Savaii). Samoa Observer written submission. 131 Talamua written submission. 132 See Samoa Get Safe Online platform here: https://www.getsafeonline.ws/personal/articles/your-child-and-social-networking/. The platform provides information in English and Samoan on matters including children and social media, cyber-bullying etc. State of Human Rights Report 2021 | 34