Countering Disinformation and Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

A/RES/76/227View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 74b Human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, published in 2021.

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report · 2022

Year	Symbol	Title		Mandate resolution
2022	A/77/287	Countering disinformation for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms report of the Secretary-General		A/RES/76/227

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 subjects

Disinformation Freedom of Expression Human Rights Information Dissemination Mass Media Social Media

What’s in this document?

18 operative paragraphs

Emphasizes that all forms of disinformation can negatively impact the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals;¹²

¹²See resolution 70/1.

Affirms the important role that the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and full respect for the freedom to seek, receive and impart information plays in strengthening democracy, promoting pluralism and multiculturalism, enhancing transparency and press freedom, and countering disinformation;

Recognizes that disinformation has the potential to incite discrimination, hostility and violence against vulnerable groups and people in vulnerable situations, including humanitarian emergencies and conflicts;

Affirms the responsibility of States to counter, as appropriate, and in accordance with international human rights law, the dissemination of disinformation which undermines the promotion of peace and cooperation;

Condemns any advocacy of hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, whether it involves the use of print, audiovisual or electronic media, social media or any other means;

Expresses concern about the spread of disinformation and propaganda, including on the Internet, which can be designed and implemented so as to mislead, to violate human rights, including the rights to privacy and to freedom of expression, to spread hatred, racism, xenophobia, negative stereotyping or stigmatization, and to incite violence, discrimination and hostility, and emphasizes the important contribution by journalists in countering this trend;

Welcomes civil society and media efforts aimed at identifying and raising awareness about deliberate false news stories and disinformation;

Calls upon States to counter all forms of disinformation through policy measures, including education, capacity-building for prevention and resilience to disinformation, advocacy and awareness-raising;

Acknowledges the significant role of business enterprises in the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and in enabling access to information, and recalls that all business enterprises have a responsibility to respect human rights, as set out in the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights;

Expresses concern that globally disinformation is becoming increasingly professionalized and in some cases is being driven by commercial motives;

Encourages online platforms, including social media companies, to review their business models and ensure that their design and development processes, their business operations, data collection and data processing practices are in line with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and emphasizes the importance of conducting human rights due diligence of their products, particularly of the role of algorithms and ranking systems in amplifying disinformation, and calls upon them to adopt and make publicly available, after consultation with all relevant stakeholders, clear, transparent, narrowly defined content and advertising policies on countering disinformation that are in line with international human rights law;

Urges all stakeholders to promote media and information literacy, as a way to empower all people and facilitate digital inclusion and global connectivity, and to assist in countering disinformation;

Underlines that countering disinformation requires multidimensional and multi-stakeholder responses that are in compliance with international human rights law and the proactive engagement of international organizations, States, business enterprises and all other stakeholders;

Welcomes the efforts of the Secretary-General to promote international cooperation in countering disinformation, and in this regard takes note of his call for a “global code of conduct that promotes integrity in public information”;

Invites the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, special procedures, treaty bodies and all other human rights mechanisms and entities of the United Nations, within their respective mandates, to consider, as appropriate, addressing the impact of disinformation on human rights;

Requests the Secretary-General to seek the views of States, United Nations entities and relevant stakeholders and to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-seventh session a report, within existing resources, based on information and best practices shared by States, United Nations entities and relevant stakeholders on countering disinformation;

Also requests the Secretary-General to bring the present resolution to the attention of all Governments, relevant United Nations bodies and specialized agencies, including the Department of Global Communications, and regional intergovernmental organizations;

Further requests the Secretary-General to take the steps necessary to effectively coordinate and follow up on the implementation of the present resolution and, in this regard, to consider briefing the General Assembly on its implementation, as appropriate.

54th (resumed) plenary meeting

24 December 2021

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

Table of contents