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Sustainable development and freedom of expression
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2023
- Document code
- A/HRC/53/25
- Date modified
- Dec 19, 2023
Document
Gendered disinformation and its implications for the right to freedom of expression
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2023
- Document code
- A/78/288
- Date modified
- Dec 19, 2023
Document
Reinforcing media freedom and safety of journalists in the digital age
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2022
- Document code
- A/HRC/50/29
- Date modified
- Dec 19, 2023
Document
Disinformation and freedom of opinion and expression during armed conflicts
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2022
- Document code
- A/77/288
- Date modified
- Dec 19, 2023
Document
Disinformation and freedom of opinion and expression
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2021
- Document code
- A/HRC/47/25
- Date modified
- Dec 19, 2023
Document
Gender justice and freedom of opinion and expression
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2021
- Document code
- A/76/258
- Date modified
- Dec 19, 2023
Document
Academic freedom
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2020
- Document code
- A/75/261
- Date modified
- Dec 19, 2023
Document
Disease pandemics and the freedom of opinion and expression
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2020
- Document code
- A/HRC/44/49
- Date modified
- Dec 19, 2023
Document
Artistic Freedom of Expression
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2020
- Document code
- A/HRC/44/49/Add.2
- Date modified
- Dec 19, 2023
Document
Online hate speech
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2019
- Document code
- A/74/486
- Date modified
- Dec 19, 2023
Document
Surveillance and human rights
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2019
- Document code
- A/HRC/41/35
- Date modified
- Dec 19, 2023
Document
Overview of submissions received
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2019
- Document code
- A/HRC/41/35/Add.3
- Date modified
- Dec 19, 2023
Document
Summary of an expert's consultation
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2019
- Document code
- A/HRC/41/35/Add.4
- Date modified
- Dec 19, 2023
Document
Artificial Intelligence technologies and implications for the information environment
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2018
- Document code
- A/73/348
- Date modified
- Dec 19, 2023
Document
Online content regulation
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2018
- Document code
- A/HRC/38/35
- Date modified
- Dec 19, 2023
Document
Supplementary annex accompanying the thematic report
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2018
- Document code
- A/HRC/38/35/Add.1
- Date modified
- Dec 19, 2023
Document
The role of digital access providers 2017, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- IXPs handle an enormous volume of Internet traffic that may be filtered or intercepted at government request. The growing number of censorship and surveillance incidents involving IXPs indicates that they are major access choke points, even if their precise role is unclear. For example, in 2013, the manner in which access to YouTube was blocked in Pakistan indicated that the platform was filtered by IXPs, rather than ISPs, through a method known as “packet injection”. According to a leaked internal memo of a multinational ISP operating in Ecuador, users were unable to access Google and YouTube in March 2014 because the private Association of Internet Providers of Ecuador — which runs two of the major IXPs in the country — was “blocking access to certain Internet websites by request of the national Government”. The revelations of mass surveillance conducted by the United States National Security Agency have raised concern among technologists that the agency is intercepting a significant proportion of domestic and foreign Internet traffic by targeting United States IXPs. In September 2016, the world’s largest Internet exchange point, which is based in Germany, challenged legal orders issued by the country’s intelligence agency to monitor international communications transiting through its hub.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2017
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
The use of encryption and anonymity to exercise the rights to freedom of opinion and expression in the digital age 2015, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- States should not restrict encryption and anonymity, which facilitate and often enable the rights to freedom of opinion and expression. Blanket prohibitions fail to be necessary and proportionate. States should avoid all measures that weaken the security that individuals may enjoy online, such as backdoors, weak encryption standards and key escrows. In addition, States should refrain from making the identification of users a condition for access to digital communications and online services and requiring SIM card registration for mobile users. Corporate actors should likewise consider their own policies that restrict encryption and anonymity (including through the use of pseudonyms). Court-ordered decryption, subject to domestic and international law, may only be permissible when it results from transparent and publicly accessible laws applied solely on a targeted, case-by-case basis to individuals (i.e., not to a mass of people) and subject to judicial warrant and the protection of due process rights of individuals.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
Hate speech and incitement to hatred 2012, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- Lastly, ensuring accountability for what is reported in the media also remains important. For example, the open journalism paradigm promoted by the Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland encourages two-way interaction between journalists and the audience online, which has reinserted journalists' willingness to engage in debate and be accountable for what they do into the core of journalism. At the very minimum, media outlets and journalists should adopt voluntary ethical codes and standards that do not allow hate speech and promote high standards of professional journalism, in addition to establishing independent and self-regulatory bodies to elevate standards of journalism and to ensure the accountability of all media professionals. Self-regulatory bodies should be seen not only as an exercise in policing and dispute resolution, but also as an opportunity to involve society at large in debates about the role and contribution of the media, to monitor the state of the media, to advocate professional journalism and to promote media literacy. Such bodies can also play a proactive and exemplary role in setting and reinforcing ethical standards for online content and the social media.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
Protection of journalists and press freedom 2010, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- Hence, as civilians, all journalists, whether accredited to or embedded with the forces involved, attached to adversary forces or operating unilaterally, are provided with comprehensive protection under international humanitarian law during armed conflict, provided they do not directly participate in hostilities. The Special Rapporteur would like to discourage the granting of special protection or special status to journalists under international law, as this would necessitate the formulation of a precise definition of journalists as a protected category and the clearer identification of journalists in armed conflict, both of which could potentially lead to significantly decreased protection for journalists. The former might require journalists to be duly accredited and recognized by some public authority, thus increasing interference by the State, and the latter might place journalists in further danger, since many are targeted precisely because they are journalists, as explained above. Thus, the Special Rapporteur firmly believes that existing standards are sufficient, but that respect for and the implementation of such standards must be strengthened.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Year
- 2010
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
Key trends and challenges to the right of all individuals to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds through the Internet 2011, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- Keeping the above in mind, the Special Rapporteur strongly emphasizes the importance of promoting and providing support to projects which seek to ensure the access to information and communication. In this regard, the global project "One Laptop per Child" is a good initiative. As stated in the most recent report of the Special Rapporteur to the Human Rights Council, this kind of initiative helps to spread the availability of ICT in developing countries. The project, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and several partners, has benefited not just children, but their families as well, since one of the essential aspects of the permanently connected laptop is its free use at home, which allows the child and the family to increase their access to information and to the outside world. Two important elements of these laptops are that they can be charged by solar or mechanical power; and they have been designed to provide an engaging wireless network, which allows the laptops to be connected automatically to others nearby.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
Protection of journalists and press freedom 2010, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- Like the former Commission on Human Rights, the Human Rights Council has regularly expressed concern regarding attacks against journalists in resolutions on freedom of expression, including the most recent resolution on the issue, adopted in October 2009 (Council resolution 12/16), in which the Council expressed its continuing concern that threats and acts of violence, including killings, attacks and terrorist acts, particularly directed against journalists and other media workers in situations of armed conflict, have increased and are not adequately punished, in particular in those circumstances where public authorities are involved in committing those acts. The Council called upon States to ensure that victims of such violations have an effective remedy, to investigate effectively threats and acts of violence, including terrorist acts, against journalists, including in situations of armed conflict, and to bring to justice those responsible in order to combat impunity. It also called on all parties to armed conflict to respect international humanitarian law, and to allow, within the framework of applicable rules and procedures, media access and coverage, as appropriate, in situations of international and non international armed conflict.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Year
- 2010
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
The role of digital access providers 2017, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Some evidence suggests that vendors may provide support for government censorship and surveillance. In a case pending before United States courts, Cisco has been accused of designing, implementing and helping to maintain a Chinese surveillance and internal security network known as the Golden Shield. (Cisco denies those allegations.) In Ethiopia, human rights groups found that ZTE Corporation had designed and installed a customer management database for Ethio Telecom that enabled intrusive surveillance.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2017
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
The use of encryption and anonymity to exercise the rights to freedom of opinion and expression in the digital age 2015, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- The trend lines regarding security and privacy online are deeply worrying. States often fail to provide public justification to support restrictions. Encrypted and anonymous communications may frustrate law enforcement and counter-terrorism officials, and they complicate surveillance, but State authorities have not generally identified situations - even in general terms, given the potential need for confidentiality - where a restriction has been necessary to achieve a legitimate goal. States downplay the value of traditional non-digital tools in law enforcement and counter-terrorism efforts, including transnational cooperation. As a consequence, the public lacks an opportunity to measure whether restrictions on their online security would be justified by any real gains in national security and crime prevention. Efforts to restrict encryption and anonymity also tend to be quick reactions to terrorism, even when the attackers themselves are not alleged to have used encryption or anonymity to plan or carry out an attack. Moreover, even where the restriction is arguably in pursuit of a legitimate interest, many laws and policies regularly do not meet the standards of necessity and proportionality and have broad, deleterious effects on the ability of all individuals to exercise freely their rights to privacy and freedom of opinion and expression.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
The protection of sources and whistle-blowers 2015, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Today, journalists and other "social communicators" may claim the right of confidentiality for the source. Persons other than journalists inform the public and carry out a "vital public watchdog role". International bodies increasingly use terms more general than "journalist", such as "media professionals" or "media workers". The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights refers to "media practitioners" and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Representative on Freedom of the Media refers to "new participants in journalism". All those terms demonstrate an understanding that those performing the same journalistic functions should enjoy the right to protect sources. The Council of Europe has defined the term "journalist" functionally as "any natural or legal person who is regularly or professionally engaged in the collection and dissemination of information to the public via any means of mass communication". For the purposes of source protection - when, as the Norwegian Supreme Court has noted, the broadest protection should be available - any person or entity involved in collecting or gathering information with the intent to publish or otherwise disseminate it publicly should be permitted to claim the right to protect a source's confidentiality. Regular, professional engagement may indicate protection, but its absence should not be a presumptive bar to those who collect information for public dissemination.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
The implications of States’ surveillance of communications on the exercise of the human rights to privacy and to freedom of opinion and expression 2013, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- A further initiative preventing communications anonymity is the gradual adoption of policies that require the registration of SIM cards with a subscriber's real name or government-issued identity document. In 48 countries in Africa, laws requiring individuals to register their personal information with their network provider prior to activation of pre-paid SIM cards are reportedly facilitating the establishment of extensive databases of user information, eradicating the potential for anonymity of communications, enabling location-tracking, and simplifying communications surveillance. In the absence of data protection legislation, SIM users' information can be shared with Government departments and matched with other private and public databases, enabling the State to create comprehensive profiles of individual citizens. Individuals are also at risk of being excluded from use of mobile phone services (which may enable not only communication but also access to financial services) if they are unable or unwilling to provide identification to register.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2013
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
The right to freedom of opinion and expression in electoral contexts 2014, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- Exit polling, where voters are surveyed upon exiting a polling booth, are also considered risky when their results are reported while votes are being counted. Thus, many countries prevent the publication of exit polls until the conclusion of voting.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Year
- 2014
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
The protection of sources and whistle-blowers 2015, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Protection must also counter a variety of contemporary threats. A leading one is surveillance. The ubiquitous use of digital electronics, alongside government capacity to access the data and footprints that all such devices leave behind, has presented serious challenges to confidentiality and anonymity of sources and whistle-blowers. The problem of unintended self-disclosure has been a recurrent feature in the leading cases involving journalistic sources in recent years, in which the Government of the United States of America discovered probable source identities through telephone and e-mail records. Writers themselves report concern that their ability to protect sources is much diminished in the face of surveillance. National and regional courts in Europe have appropriately criticized extralegal approaches to compromising confidentiality. The Italian Supreme Court of Cassation, for example, protected the telephone records of a journalist because they were openly instrumental to the identification of those who had provided confidential information. The European Court of Human Rights emphasized the importance of providing "the individual adequate protection against arbitrary interference" caused by surveillance. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe recommends that interception, surveillance and other digital searches "should not be applied if their purpose is to circumvent" source protection.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
The implications of States’ surveillance of communications on the exercise of the human rights to privacy and to freedom of opinion and expression 2013, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- Individuals are now also required to use their real names online in many States, and to provide official identification in order to establish their identity. In the Republic of Korea, the Information Communications Law, adopted in 2007, required users to register their real names before accessing websites with more than 100,000 visitors per day, ostensibly in order to reduce online bullying and hate speech. The law was recently overturned by the Constitutional Court on the basis that it restricted freedom of speech and undermined democracy. China recently adopted the Decision to Strengthen the Protection of Online Information, requiring Internet and telecommunications providers to collect personal information about users when they sign up for Internet access, landline, or mobile phone service. Service providers allowing users to publish online are required to be able to link screen names and real identities. These real name registration requirements allow authorities to more easily identify online commentators or tie mobile use to specific individuals, eradicating anonymous expression.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2013
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
Protection of journalists and media freedom 2012, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- Many journalists continue to inform the Special Rapporteur that the systematic use of unjustified criminal prosecution or even civil tort prosecution with disproportionate financial sanctions paralyzes journalistic investigation and generates an atmosphere of intimidation, which constitutes a form of judicial harassment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph