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For a description of how Facebook operates, see Smith v Trafford Housing Council [2012] EWHC 3221 (Ch) at paras 26^29. 2 The total number of internet users worldwide is now estimated at over two billion. See La Rue, Report of the Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, A/HRC/17/27, 16 May 2011, at para 2. The Report explores key trends and challenges to the right of all individuals to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds through the internet. 3

This article assesses the development, status and recognition of a prohibition on sexual orientation discrimination as a matter of international human rights law. The State practice examined appears to reveal fundamental divisions on this issue. The article considers whether there are any treaty-based obligations that support the prohibition on sexual orientation as an existing right. Having examined the national, regional and international human rights jurisprudence on sexual orientation discrimination, the article considers the possible ways forward in policy terms, given the continued opposition from a significant body of States. More specifically, it discusses the most appropriate legal and strategic responses at national, regional and international levels to manage or bridge the divisions between States on the issue.

The margin of appreciation (MoA) has become the central conceptual doctrine in the institutional and jurisprudential architecture of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). This article critiques the existence and operation of the MoA within the ECHR system and defends its use. It is submitted that as each of the central justifications for the MoA under the ECHR applies equally to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), so the doctrine should be applied by the Human Rights Committee.