Internet Rights and Principles Coalition welcomes Special Rapporteur's report on freedom of expression and the Internet
On Friday 3rd June the UN Special Rapporteur for the protection and promotion of freedom of opinion and expression will present his annual report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. The focus of the report is on the Internet which is recognized as playing a “key role” in “mobilizing the population to call for justice, equality, accountability and better respect for human rights”.
The report underscores that meaningful access to the Internet encompasses both access to infrastructure as well as the free flow of information and ideas. The report condemns increasing online censorship as evidenced by a number of trends:
• arbitrary blocking or filtering of content
• criminalization of legitimate expression
• imposition of intermediary liability
• disconnecting users from Internet access, including on the basis of intellectual property rights law
• cyberattacks
• inadequate protection of the right to privacy and data protection.
The Internet Rights and Principles Dynamic Coalition welcomes the Rapporteur's contribution to the debate about human rights and the Internet. Human rights apply online as they do offline - for the Special Rapporteur to emphasize this point to the United Nations is an exciting step forwards in fostering an internet environment that supports our fundamental rights.
The Coalition calls on the governments of all countries to make sure that the Rapporteur's recommendations are implemented through policy and practice at international and national levels. We also call on businesses to take active steps to ensure that they respect human rights on the internet.
Join the action:
- Read the Special Rapporteur's report here: http://bit.ly/iTLcBr
- Come to the Association for Progressive Communication side event in Geneva and endorse their statement: http://www.apc.org/en/news/un-human-rights-council-apc-co-organises-event-int
- Join the Dynamic Coalition: www.internetrightsandprinciples.org
