A/HRC/RES/56/7 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 11 July 2024 Original: English Human Rights Council Fifty-sixth session 18 June–12 July 2024 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 10 July 2024 56/7. Freedom of opinion and expression The Human Rights Council, Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, Recalling all resolutions of the Commission on Human Rights and the Human Rights Council relevant to the right to freedom of opinion and expression, in particular Council resolutions 7/36 of 28 March 2008, 12/16 of 12 October 2009, 16/4 of 24 March 2011, 23/2 of 13 June 2013, 25/2 of 27 March 2014, 34/18 of 24 March 2017, 38/7 of 5 July 2018 , 38/5 of 5 July 2018, 39/6 of 27 September 2018, 43/4 of 19 June 2020, 44/12 of 16 July 2020, 47/16 of 13 July 2021, 48/4 of 7 October 2021, 49/21 of 1 April 2022, 50/15 of 8 July 2022, 51/9 of 6 October 2022, 52/9 of 3 April 2023, 54/21 of 12 October 2023 and 55/10 of 3 April 2024, Welcoming the work of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and taking note of her reports,1 Welcoming also the initiatives taken by States, media organizations, civil society organizations and human rights defenders relevant to the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and noting in this regard the Freedom Online Coalition, the International Partnership for Information and Democracy and the Media Freedom Coalition, Reaffirming that the right to freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art or through any other media, is a human right guaranteed to all, in accordance with article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, that it constitutes one of the essential foundations of democratic societies and for sustainable development, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and that it is critical to combating corruption and addressing disinformation and misinformation, strengthening democracy, the rule of law and good governance, and ensuring transparency and accountability, Recognizing that the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, both online and offline, through any media and regardless of frontiers is one of the 1 A/77/288 and A/HRC/56/53. GE.24-12694 (E)