A/HRC/RES/47/16 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 26 July 2021 Original: English Human Rights Council Forty-seventh session 21 June–14 July 2021 Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 13 July 2021 47/16. The promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet The Human Rights Council, Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, Reaffirming the human rights and fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and relevant international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Recalling all relevant resolutions of the Commission on Human Rights and the Human Rights Council on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, in particular Council resolutions 31/7 of 23 March 2016 on the rights of the child: information and communications technologies and child sexual exploitation, 38/7 of 5 July 2018 on the promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet, 42/15 of 16 September 2019 on the right to privacy in the digital age, and 44/12 of 16 July 2020 on freedom of opinion and expression, and recalling also General Assembly resolutions 70/125 of 16 December 2015 containing the outcome document of the high-level meeting of the Assembly on the overall review of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society, 75/176 of 16 December 2020 on the right to privacy in the digital age, and 75/202 of 21 December 2020 on information and communications technologies for development, Recalling also that the obligation and the primary responsibility to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms lie with the State, and that business enterprises have a responsibility to respect human rights as set out in the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework, Recognizing the importance of access to information and communications technology for the full enjoyment of human rights, strengthening democracy, the rule of law and empowering civic engagement, for attaining the Sustainable Development Goals and for the response to and a sustainable, inclusive and resilient recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, and recognizing also the need to bridge digital divides, GE.21-10258(E)