Freedom of Opinion and Expression

A/HRC/RES/50/15View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2022.

What other versions does this mandate have?

4 versions · 2009–2024

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/56/7

2024A/HRC/RES/56/7Freedom of opinion and expressionLatestCompare with previous version
2022A/HRC/RES/50/15Freedom of opinion and expressionCompare with previous version
2020A/HRC/RES/44/12Freedom of opinion and expressionCompare with previous version
2009A/HRC/RES/12/16Freedom of opinion and expression

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 topics

Access to Information Communication Technology Digital Literacy Digital Technology Freedom of Expression Freedom of Information Information Dissemination

What does this mandate say?

30 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms the rights contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in particular the right to freedom of opinion and expression, which includes 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 of one’s choice, and the intrinsically linked rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief, peaceful assembly and association and the right to vote and take part in the conduct of public affairs;

Expresses its continuing concern that violations and abuses of the right to freedom of opinion and expression continue, often with impunity, and are facilitated and aggravated by the abuse of states of emergency, as well as unlawful or arbitrary surveillance and/or interception of communications, including through digital surveillance technologies;

Reaffirms that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, in particular the right to freedom of opinion and expression;

Strongly condemns the threats, reprisals, harassment and violence against, both online and offline, and the targeting, criminalization, intimidation, arbitrary detention, torture, disappearance and killing of any individual, including journalists and other media workers, artists and cultural workers, human rights defenders, and all women and girls, for their advocacy of human rights, for reporting and seeking information on human rights violations and abuses, or for cooperating with national, regional and international mechanisms, including in relation to economic, social and cultural rights, which have increased and are not adequately punished, in particular where public authorities are involved in committing such acts;

Expresses its deep concern at all forms of discrimination, intimidation, harassment and violence, both online and offline, that prevent women and girls from fully enjoying their human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and the right to privacy, in accordance with obligations under international law, which hinders their full, equal, effective and meaningful participation in economic, social, cultural and political affairs and is an impediment to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls;

Stresses that a democratic society depends on respect for human rights, including the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and that undue restrictions on the freedom to seek, receive and impart information undermine democracy and the rule of law by preventing efforts aimed at holding public authorities accountable and exposing corruption;

Underlines that connectivity, access to information and communications technology, and the promotion of open and secure digital access and digital inclusion, including through digital, media and information literacy, are critical for the enjoyment of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and to bridge the digital divides;

Calls upon all States:

To promote, protect, respect and ensure the full enjoyment of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, both online and offline, and to take all measures necessary to put an end to and to prevent violations and abuses of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, including by ensuring that relevant national legislation complies with their international human rights obligations and is effectively implemented;

To ensure that victims of violations and abuses have effective remedy, that threats and acts of violence are investigated effectively, and that those responsible are brought to justice in order to combat impunity;

To promote, protect, respect and ensure all women’s and girls’ full enjoyment of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, both online and offline, without distinction or discrimination of any kind, and to counter all violence or threats of violence faced while exercising this right;

To enable everyone, including journalists and other media workers, and human rights defenders, to exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression, including by taking effective measures, such as prevention and protection mechanisms, to ensure their safety both online and offline, and to protect in law and in practice the confidentiality of journalists’ sources, including whistle-blowers, in acknowledgement of the essential role of journalists and those who provide them with information in fostering government accountability and an inclusive, democratic and peaceful society;

To strengthen measures to ensure that persons with disabilities can exercise the right to freedom of expression and opinion, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas on an equal basis and through all forms of communication of their choice, including through the provision of affordable formats and technologies;

To promote digital literacy among children and youth so that they can fully enjoy their right to freedom of opinion and expression and their right to education, including by providing children, youth and their guardians and/or caregivers with the knowledge and skills to safely handle a wide range of digital tools and resources, and to promote awareness among children, youth and their guardians and/or caregivers of the possible adverse consequences of exposure to risks relating to the Internet, including cyberbullying, trafficking, sexual exploitation and abuse, and other forms of violence;

To respect the right to freedom of opinion and expression in the media, in particular editorial independence, to promote a pluralistic approach to information and multiple points of view, inter alia by encouraging a diversity of ownership of media and of sources of information, including mass media, and by promoting the economic sustainability of media, and to refrain from the use of imprisonment or the imposition of fines for offences relating to the media where such measures are disproportionate to the gravity of the offence, and to take note of the Windhoek+30 Declaration;

To ensure that any limitations on the right to freedom of expression are only such as are provided by law and are necessary to ensure the respect of the rights and reputations of others, or for the protection of national security, or of public order, or of public health, including by ensuring that all measures taken to counter threats related to terrorism, and violent extremism and public health are in full compliance with international human rights obligations, including the principles of lawfulness, legitimacy, necessity and proportionality;

To underline the need to enable an online environment that is conducive to user safety and engagement by all, and addresses digital divides, especially for all women and girls, and individuals in vulnerable situations and/or belonging to marginalized groups, as well as the need for all people to have digital, media and information literacy skills, which are important for the full and equal economic and political participation of individuals without discrimination in an inclusive information society;

To recognize that digital, media and information literacy includes risk awareness, digital security and self-protection training and guidance, and to acknowledge the particular risks of the digital age, including the particular vulnerability of journalists, other media workers and human right defenders to becoming targets of unlawful or arbitrary surveillance or interception of communications, in violation of their rights to privacy and to freedom of expression;

To acknowledge that digital, media and information literacy includes fostering the knowledge and skills of individuals to discover, access, critically evaluate and disseminate information and communicate their views in various media and contexts to bridge digital divides and ensure equitable knowledge societies, and to note that these issues can be addressed by, among other things, improving people’s competencies, including as part of lifelong learning;

To strengthen partnerships among all stakeholders to build the capacity of women and girls, and individuals in vulnerable situations and/or belonging to marginalized groups, to fully participate in and enjoy the benefits of an inclusive information society, including through supporting digital, media and information literacy, and to expand the scope of education and training opportunities ranging from basic digital fluency to advanced technical skills;

To support relevant efforts promoting the right to freedom of opinion and expression that strengthen the resilience of societies against the impact of disinformation and misinformation at all levels, including through digital, media and information literacy, education and inclusion;

To recognize the importance of digital and information literacy in combating all forms of violence, hatred, discrimination and hostility, both online and offline, in accordance with international human rights law, including through the promotion of tolerance, education and dialogue;

To refrain from imposing new restrictions, and to lift existing ones, on the free flow of information and ideas that are inconsistent with article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including through practices such as the use of Internet shutdowns and online censorship to intentionally prevent or disrupt access to or the dissemination of information online, the banning or closing of publications or other media and the abuse of administrative measures, criminalization and censorship, and the restriction on access to or use of information and communications technology, inter alia radio, television and the Internet;

To adopt, implement and, where necessary, reform laws, regulations, policies and other measures concerning personal data and privacy protection online in order to prevent, mitigate and remedy the arbitrary or unlawful collection, retention, processing, use or disclosure of personal data on the Internet that could violate human rights and deter individuals from the full exercise of their rights to freedom of opinion and expression;

Stresses that many States all over the world need support in expanding infrastructure, technological cooperation and capacity-building, including human and institutional capacity-building, to ensure the accessibility, affordability and availability of the Internet in order to bridge digital divides, to meet the Sustainable Development Goals and to ensure the full enjoyment of human rights;

Encourages all business enterprises, including technological intermediaries and social media platforms, to meet their responsibility to respect all human rights as stated in the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and in other applicable standards, including by actively contributing to initiatives aimed at fostering respect for freedom of opinion and expression, including through avenues for remedy and legal protection for users, and by ensuring the greatest possible transparency in their policies, standards and actions that have an impact on the freedom of opinion and expression, privacy and data protection, and to promote digital, media and information literacy and digital user safety as a way to empower all people and facilitate digital inclusion and global connectivity, while underlining the important role that international and multi-stakeholder cooperation can play in this regard;

Encourages business enterprises, including communications service providers, to work towards enabling solutions to secure and protect the confidentiality of digital communications and transactions, including measures for encryption, pseudonymization and anonymity, and to ensure the implementation of human rights-compliant safeguards, and calls upon States not to interfere with the use of such technical solutions with any restrictions thereon complying with States’ obligations under international human rights law, and to enact policies that protect the privacy of individuals’ digital communications;

Reaffirms that article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides that any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law;

Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, including in consultation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and other relevant United Nations bodies, to convene at its fifty-third session a panel discussion, fully accessible to persons with disabilities, on the role of digital, media and information literacy in the promotion and enjoyment of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, open to the participation of States, members of civil society and business enterprises and relevant private sector organizations, technological intermediaries, including social media platforms, United Nations experts and other stakeholders, and also requests the Office of the High Commissioner to prepare a summary report on the panel discussion and present it to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-fourth session;

Decides to continue its consideration of the issue of the right to freedom of opinion and expression in accordance with its programme of work.

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