A/HRC/RES/58/23 Strongly condemning the use of Internet shutdowns, including the blocking of access to communication platforms, to intentionally and arbitrarily prevent or disrupt access to or the dissemination of information online, which is inconsistent with international law, including international human rights law, and stressing the importance of a free, affordable, open, interoperable, reliable and secure Internet, Noting with deep concern the use or transfer of technological tools developed by the private surveillance industry by private or public actors to undertake surveillance, hacking of devices and systems, including through the use of malware or spyware, interception and disruption of communications, and data collection, interfering with the professional and private lives of individuals, including human rights defenders, engaged in the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, when in violation or abuse of their human rights, including the right to privacy, Noting with deep concern also the negative impact that surveillance and/or interception of communications, including extraterritorial surveillance and/or interception of communications, as well as the collection of personal data, in particular when carried out on a mass scale, may have on the exercise and enjoyment of human rights, including of women and girls, Expressing its concern at the arbitrary and unlawful surveillance, both in physical and digital spaces, including online, of human rights defenders, including women human rights defenders, including through the use of closed-circuit television and aerial surveillance vehicles, as well as through the use of new and emerging digital tracking tools, such as biometric technologies, including facial and emotional recognition and international mobile subscriber identity-catchers (“stingrays”), in violation or abuse of their human rights, including the right to privacy, Expressing its grave concern about repressive activities conducted abroad by States outside their own jurisdiction to harm, silence and intimidate human rights defenders through digital, physical and other means, including through the misuse of spyware and other intrusive surveillance software, Recognizing that artificial intelligence systems, when used without appropriate human rights safeguards and including when used for identification, tracking, profiling, facial recognition, the generation of synthetic photorealistic images, behavioural prediction or the scoring of individuals, can entail serious risks for the protection and promotion of human rights and their enjoyment by human rights defenders, Noting with concern reports indicating lower accuracy of biometric data identification, including facial recognition technologies that show racial, gender and disability identification biases and prejudices, including when non-representative training data are used, and that the use of digital technologies can reproduce, reinforce and even exacerbate racial, gender and disability inequalities, and recognizing in this context the importance of effective remedies, Recalling the efforts to support meaningful multi-stakeholder engagement, including the principles outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Global Digital Compact, and welcoming those contained in the multi-stakeholder statement on strengthening Internet governance and digital policy processes adopted at the 10-year review conference of the Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance, held in São Paulo, Brazil, on 29 and 30 April 2024, Alarmed at the killing, kidnapping, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, torture, harassment, intimidation, criminalization and judicial harassment of, and the smear campaigns, violence, including sexual and gender-based violence, and threats both online and offline used against, human rights defenders, including women, environmental and Indigenous or their family members, associates and legal representatives, Recognizing the importance of combating all forms of violence against human rights defenders, including women human rights defenders, in the context of digital technologies, including sexual exploitation and abuse, the use of deepfakes, doxxing, harassment, stalking, bullying, non-consensual sharing of personal sexually explicit content, threats and acts of sexual and gender-based violence, death threats, arbitrary or unlawful surveillance and 3