A/HRC/35/22
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: General
30 March 2017
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Thirty-fifth session
6-23 June 2017
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and
protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
Note by the Secretariat
The Secretariat has the honour to transmit to the Human Rights Council the report of
the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion
and expression, David Kaye, prepared pursuant to Council resolution 25/2. In his two
previous reports to the Council, the Special Rapporteur focused on the freedom of opinion
and expression in the digital age, detailing how encryption and anonymity tools provide the
security necessary for the exercise of freedom of expression (A/HRC/29/32) and mapping
the ways in which the information and communications technology sector implicates
freedom of expression (A/HRC/32/38). In the present report, he addresses the roles played
by private actors engaged in the provision of Internet and telecommunications access. He
begins by examining State obligations to protect and promote freedom of expression online,
then evaluates the digital access industry’s roles, to conclude with a set of principles that
could guide the private sector’s steps to respect human rights.
GE.17-05047(E)