Human Rights Defenders and New and Emerging Technologies Protecting Human Rights Defenders, Including Women Human Rights Defenders, in the Digital Age

A/HRC/RES/58/23View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A document 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 2025.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

8 topics

Corporate Social Responsibility Digital Technology Human Rights Human Rights Activists Information Policy New Technologies Right to Security of Person Women

What does this mandate say?

35 operative paragraphs

Stresses that the right of everyone, individually or in association with others, to promote and strive for the protection and realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, as enshrined in the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, without retaliation or fear thereof, both online and offline, is essential in building and maintaining inclusive, peaceful and democratic societies;

Also stresses the positive, important and legitimate role and contribution of human rights defenders, including women human rights defenders, in promoting and protecting human rights, strengthening understanding, tolerance and peace, promoting equal access to new technologies and bridging digital divides, and urges States to create and support a safe, enabling, accessible and inclusive environment online and offline for their participation in all relevant activities;

Strongly condemns the violence against and the criminalization, intimidation, attacks, torture, enforced disappearance and killing of, and all other human rights violations or abuses online and offline against, human rights defenders, including women, environmental and Indigenous human rights defenders, by State and non-State actors, stresses the need to combat impunity by ensuring that those responsible for violations and abuses against human rights defenders, or against their legal representatives, associates and family members, are promptly brought to justice through impartial and independent investigations, and underlines that ensuring accountability is a key element in preventing future violations and abuses of international human rights;

Recognizes that democracy and the rule of law are essential components for the protection of human rights defenders, and urges States to take measures to strengthen democratic institutions, safeguard civic space, uphold the rule of law and combat impunity;

Calls upon States to combat impunity by conducting prompt, impartial and independent investigations and pursuing accountability for all forms of violations, abuses and threats by State and non-State actors against any human rights defender, or against their legal representatives, family members and associates, and by condemning publicly all forms of violence and discrimination, including multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, and acts of intimidation or reprisal, and underlining that such practices can never be justified;

Notes with appreciation the work of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders and takes note of her reports submitted to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly, and strongly encourages all States to cooperate with and to assist the Special Rapporteur;

Condemns all acts of intimidation and reprisal, both online and offline, by State and non-State actors against individuals, groups and organs of society, including against human rights defenders and their legal representatives, associates and family members, who seek to cooperate, are cooperating or have cooperated with subregional, regional and international bodies, including the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights;

Reaffirms the right of everyone, individually and in association with others, to unhindered access to and communication with international bodies without fear of reprisal, in particular with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights, including the Human Rights Council and its special procedures, the universal periodic review mechanism and the treaty bodies, as well as regional human rights mechanisms, and strongly calls upon all States to realize this right;

Calls upon States:

To promote a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders, including women human rights defenders, to conduct their work both online and offline, and to ensure that laws, policies and practices are in compliance with applicable obligations and commitments under international law, including international human rights law, so that they do not hinder or limit unduly the ability of human rights defenders to carry out their work or have access to resources;

To refrain from or cease the use or transfer of new and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence applications and spyware, where they are impossible to operate in compliance with international human rights law or that pose undue risks to the enjoyment of human rights, unless and until the adequate safeguards to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms are in place;

To foster an accessible, inclusive, open, safe and secure digital space that respects, protects and promotes human rights, gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, and to accelerate efforts to bridge digital divides, including the gender, geographic and other digital divides, between and within countries, and to foster universal, affordable and meaningful connectivity, particularly during protests, elections, situations of crisis, armed conflict or foreign occupation, the use of information and communications technology and the promotion of open and secure digital access and digital inclusion, including through digital, media and information literacy and digital security training, in order to promote the full enjoyment of human rights for all;

To encourage diverse and human rights-respecting technological solutions to advance connectivity, including by creating an enabling, inclusive and effective regulatory environment for small, non-profit and community Internet operators;

To encourage the private sector to apply the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights;

To guarantee the right to freedom of expression, which includes the freedom to seek, receive and impart information, including by promoting transparency, proactively publishing data and integrating digital and media literacy into educational curricula;

To prioritize the development and implementation of national online child safety policies and standards, in compliance with international human rights law, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child;

To expand access to the Internet and secure communication tools, including by increasing funding for such digital security resources as encrypted communication applications and secure reporting channels;

To refrain from the criminalization, delegitimization or stigmatization of, or smear campaigns, hate speech and disinformation targeting, human rights defenders for documenting human rights violations and abuses, including for communicating with non-State actors, for this purpose;

To refrain from Internet shutdowns, network restrictions or any other measures aiming to disrupt or prevent human rights defenders from having access to or disseminating information and communicating safely and securely, including through the use of blocking, throttling or filtering measures, or by interfering with the use of technologies, such as encryption or anonymity tools;

To promote measures and technical solutions for strong encryption and anonymity, such as pseudonymization, 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 laws and policies that protect the privacy of individuals’ digital communications;

To support efforts to enable human rights defenders to store and safeguard their information securely, without fear of unlawful surveillance or data breaches or arbitrary seizure of equipment including putting in place robust legal safeguards to prevent the misuse of digital tools to suppress dissent or target defenders and ensure that their rights online and offline are protected;

To refrain from and cease measures that violate human rights, including such practices as the targeted use of spyware against human rights defenders, as such actions may be incompatible with international human rights law, and to make available mechanisms to provide appropriate remedies for victims of surveillance-related violations of law, consistent with international human rights law;

To ensure that biometric identification and recognition technologies, including facial recognition technologies, are not used by public and private actors for mass surveillance, and are used only when consistent with international human rights law and the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality, and also to ensure access to remedies for human rights violations and abuses arising from biometric identification and recognition technologies;

To ensure that the criminalization and prosecution of terrorism, cybercrimes or national security offences, defamation and libel laws and other and other measures used to address threats in this regard are in accordance with their obligations under international human rights law, and to avoid the criminalization of human rights defenders or unduly hindering their work;

To adopt and implement laws and policies that discourage strategic lawsuits against public participation targeting journalists, media outlets and human rights defenders, including women human rights defenders, and to provide legal support to victims;

To take all steps necessary to prevent threats, attacks, discrimination, arbitrary arrests and detention or other forms of harassment, reprisals and acts of intimidation against civil society actors, including human rights defenders, to promptly, impartially and independently investigate any such alleged acts, to ensure access to justice and accountability and to end impunity where such violations and abuses have occurred;

To enhance the collection of disaggregated data on the situation of human rights defenders, also by benefiting from data collected by civil society, the media and national human rights institutions, including on threats, attacks or violence against human rights defenders, including women human rights defenders, and to do their utmost to make them available to the Office of the High Commissioner;

Continues to express its particular concern about systemic and structural discrimination, economic disenfranchisement, violence and harassment disproportionately faced by women human rights defenders in diverse situations and conditions, including sexual and gender-based violence, as well as defamation, disinformation and smear campaigns, both online and offline, and reiterates its strong call upon States to take appropriate, robust and practical steps to protect women human rights defenders and to integrate a gender perspective into their efforts to create a safe and enabling environment for the defence of human rights;

Condemns unequivocally online attacks against women and girls, including sexual and gender-based violence and abuse of women and girls that occurs through or is amplified by technology, such as doxxing, deep-faking, cyberstalking and online harassment, and against women by the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, whether real or simulated, in particular where women human rights defenders engaging in public debate are targeted for their expression, and calls for gender-responsive approaches that take into account these particular forms of online discrimination and harassment;

Calls upon States to create and support an enabling environment for the full, equal and meaningful participation of women’s civil society organizations and women human rights defenders, both online and offline, including by bridging the gender, geographic and other digital divides;

Underscores the responsibility of all business enterprises, particularly those in the tech industry or operating online both transnational and others, in accordance with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, to respect all human rights, including the rights to life, liberty and security of person of human rights defenders, and their exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, and participation in public affairs, which are essential for the promotion and protection of all human rights;

Encourages business enterprises, including communications service providers and social media companies, 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 to carry out human rights due diligence in accordance with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights throughout the lifecycle and value chain of their services and products in order to identify, prevent and address potential risks to human rights defenders;

Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to convene three regional workshops, including through hybrid modalities, to assess the risks created by digital technologies to human rights defenders and best practices to respond to these concerns in different geographical areas, bearing in mind current and emerging business models and gender, geographic and other digital divides and sensitivities, with participation from civil society, human rights defenders and the private sector;

Also requests the Office of the High Commissioner to prepare a report containing a summary of those consultations, which could include recommendations for due diligence and improved responses to the risks created by digital technologies to human rights defenders, including those exposed to discrimination and those working in situations of armed conflict, and to present it to the Human Rights Council at its sixty-third session;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

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