A/HRC/RES/26/13
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: General
14 July 2014
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Twenty-sixth session
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
26/13 The promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the
Internet
The Human Rights Council,
Guided by 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 resolution 20/8 of 5 July 2012, on the promotion, protection, and enjoyment of
human rights on the Internet, as well as resolutions 12/16 of 2 October 2009, on freedom of
opinion and expression, and 23/2 of 13 June 2013, on the role of freedom of opinion and
expression in women’s empowerment, and also recalling General Assembly resolutions
68/167 of 18 December 2013, on the right to privacy in the digital age, and 68/198 of 20
December 2013, on information and communications technologies for development, and
Human Rights Council decision 25/117 of 27 March 2014 on the panel on the right to
privacy in the digital age,
Taking note of the Global Multi-stakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet
Governance, held in São Paulo on 23 and 24 April 2014, which acknowledged, inter alia,
the need for human rights to underpin Internet governance and that rights that people have
offline must also be protected online,
Noting that the exercise of human rights, in particular the right to freedom of
expression, on the Internet is an issue of increasing interest and importance as the rapid
pace of technological development enables individuals all over the world to use new
information and communication technologies,
GE.14-08283 (E)
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