New and Emerging Digital Technologies and Human Rights

A/HRC/RES/47/23View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2021.

What other versions does this mandate have?

4 versions · 2019–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/59/11

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/HRC/RES/59/11	New and emerging digital technologies and human rights	2,759	43%Compare
2023	A/HRC/RES/53/29	New and emerging digital technologies and human rights	2,921	38%Compare
2021	A/HRC/RES/47/23	New and emerging digital technologies and human rights	1,562	28%Compare
2019	A/HRC/RES/41/11	New and emerging digital technologies and human rights	818	–

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 subjects

Business Enterprises Consultations Digital Technology Human Rights New Technologies

What’s in this document?

6 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms the importance of a holistic, inclusive and comprehensive approach and the need for all stakeholders to collaborate in a more concerted way in addressing the possible impacts, opportunities and challenges of new and emerging digital technologies with regard to the promotion and protection of human rights;

Notes the Secretary-General’s call for Member States to place human rights at the centre of regulatory frameworks and legislation on the development and use of digital technologies, and for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to develop system-wide guidance on human rights due diligence and impact assessments in the use of new technologies;

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to convene two expert consultations, to discuss the relationship between human rights and technical standard-setting processes for new and emerging digital technologies and the practical application of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to the activities of technology companies, and to submit a report thereon, reflecting the discussions held in an inclusive and comprehensive manner, to the Human Rights Council at its fiftieth and fifty-third sessions;

Also requests the Office of the High Commissioner, when preparing the above-mentioned expert consultations and reports, to seek input from and to take into account the relevant work already done by stakeholders from diverse geographic regions, including States, international and regional organizations, the Advisory Committee, the special procedures of the Human Rights Council, the treaty bodies, other relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, including the International Telecommunication Union, other relevant standard development organizations, and the Office of the Envoy of Secretary-General on Technology, within their respective mandates, national human rights institutions, civil society, the private sector, the technical community and academic institutions;

Invites the Office of the High Commissioner to continue to work on the application of human rights to the conception, design, use, development and further deployment of new and emerging digital technologies with a view to assisting business enterprises, including technology companies, with developing and applying human rights due diligence processes, and to assist Governments, upon their request, in developing human rights-based laws and policies for new and emerging digital technologies, including through human rights education and close consultation with civil society and business enterprises, especially technology companies;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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