642 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "When restricting access to content in line with their own content-restriction policies, intermediaries should do so in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner. Any restriction of content should be carried out using the least restrictive technical means and should be limited in scope and duration to what is strictly necessary to avoid the collateral restriction or removal of legal content."
- "Internet traffic should be treated equally, without discrimination, restriction or interference irrespective of the sender, receiver, content, application, service or device. This is understood as the network neutrality principle for the purpose of this recommendation."
- "Internet freedom is understood as the exercise and enjoyment on the Internet of human rights and fundamental freedoms and their protection in compliance with the Convention and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights."
- "Any national decision or action restricting human rights and fundamental rights on the Internet must comply with international obligations and in particular be based on law. It must be necessary in a democratic society, fully respect the principles of proportionality and guarantee access to remedies and the right to be heard and to appeal with due process safeguards."
- "Any State body which has regulatory or other competence over Internet matters carries out its activities free from political or commercial interference, in a transparent manner and protects and promotes Internet freedom."
- "The State provides media and digital literacy programmes for users to foster their ability to make informed decisions and to respect the rights and freedoms of others."
- "The State recognises in law and in practice that disconnecting individuals from the Internet, as a general rule, represents a disproportionate restriction of the right to freedom of expression."
- "Any measure taken by State authorities or private-sector actors to block or otherwise restrict access to an entire Internet platform (social media, social networks, blogs or any other website) or information and communication technologies (ICT) tools (instant messaging or other applications), or any request by State authorities to carry out such actions complies with the conditions of Article 10 of the Convention regarding the legality, legitimacy and proportionality of restrictions."
- "Any measure taken by State authorities or private-sector actors to block, filter or remove Internet content, or any request by State authorities to carry out such actions complies with the conditions of Article 10 of the Convention regarding the legality, legitimacy and proportionality of restrictions."
- "Media are not required to obtain permission or a licence from the government or State authorities, beyond business registration, in order to be allowed to operate on the Internet or blog."
- "There are prompt and effective investigations of threats and crimes against journalists and new media actors. There is no climate of impunity."
- "Any restriction of the right to freedom of expression on the Internet is in compliance with the requirements of Article 10 of the Convention, namely it: - is prescribed by a law, which is accessible, clear, unambiguous and sufficiently precise to enable individuals to regulate their conduct. The law ensures tight control over the scope of the restriction and effective judicial review to prevent any abuse of power. The law indicates with sufficient clarity the scope of discretion conferred on public authorities with regard to the implementation of restrictions and the manner of exercise of this discretion; - pursues a legitimate aim as exhaustively enumerated in Article 10 of the Convention; - is necessary in a democratic society and proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued. There is a pressing social need for the restriction, which is implemented on the basis of a decision by a court or an independent administrative body that is subject to judicial review. The decision should be targeted and specific. Also, it should be based on an assessment of the effectiveness of the restriction and risks of over-blocking. This assessment should determine whether the restriction may lead to disproportionate banning of access to Internet content, or to specific types of content, and whether it is the least restrictive means available to achieve the stated legitimate aim."
- "Individuals are free to use Internet platforms, such as social media and other ICTs in order to organise themselves for purposes of peaceful assembly. "
- "Any restriction on the exercise of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and right to freedom of association with regard to the Internet is in compliance with Article 11 of the Convention, namely it: - is prescribed by a law, which is accessible, clear, unambiguous and sufficiently precise to enable individuals to regulate their conduct; - pursues a legitimate aim as exhaustively enumerated in Article 11 of the Convention; - is necessary in a democratic society and proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued. There is a pressing social need for the restriction. There is a fair balance between the exercise of the right to freedom of assembly and freedom of association and the interests of the society as a whole. If a less intrusive measure achieves the same goal, it is applied. The restriction is narrowly construed and applied, and does not encroach on the essence of the right to freedom of assembly and association."
- "The Human Rights Council, (…) 4. Affirms that quality education plays a decisive role in development, and therefore calls upon all States to promote digital literacy (…)."
- "The Human Rights Council, (…) 14. Condemns all undue restrictions on freedom of opinion and expression online that violate international law, and notes with concern that such restrictions have a significant impact on women and girls and other individuals who may face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination."
- "The Commission calls upon platforms to decisively step up their efforts to tackle online disinformation. It considers that self-regulation can contribute to these efforts, provided it is effectively implemented and monitored."
- "Ensure that online services include, by design, safeguards against disinformation; this should, for example, include detailed information on the behaviour of algorithms that prioritise the display of content as well as development of testing methodologies."
- "The Commission encourages Member States to mobilise resources and include in their educational policies digital citizenship, media literacy, the development of critical-thinking skills for the online environment, and awareness-raising activities on disinformation and online amplification techniques."
- "In line with the Commission's Communication, the signatories of the Code of Practice recognise the importance of efforts to: (i) Include safeguards against disinformation; (ii) Improve the scrutiny of advertisement placements to reduce revenues of the purveyors of disinformation; (iii) Ensure transparency about political and issue-based advertising, also with a view to enabling users to understand why they have been targeted by a given advertisement; (iv) Implement and promote reasonable policies against misrepresentation; (v) Intensify and demonstrate the effectiveness of efforts to close fake accounts and establish clear marking systems and rules for bots to ensure their activities cannot be confused with human interactions; (...) (vii) Consistently with Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the principle of freedom of opinion, invest in technological means to prioritize relevant, authentic, and accurate and authoritative information where appropriate in search, feeds, or other automatically ranked distribution channels (...) (ix) Dilute the visibility of disinformation by improving the findability of trustworthy content."
- "In line with those rights and freedoms, rather than criminalising or prohibiting disinformation as such, the EU strategy aims to make the online environment and its actors more transparent and accountable, making content moderation practices more transparent, empowering citizens and fostering an open democratic debate."
- "Empowering users is key to limiting the impact of disinformation. A better understanding of the functioning of online services, as well as tools that foster more responsible behaviour online or that enable users to detect and report false and/or misleading content, can dramatically limit the spread of disinformation."
- "Disinformation is an area where rigid legislation by the EU or member states is not desirable, mainly because doing so would constitute a disproportionate interference with freedom of speech. In the absence of such legislation, the soft law instrument in play is the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation – a voluntary arrangement between the European Commission and big tech companies (...). "
- "Accordingly, the Assembly calls on member States to review, where necessary, their regulatory frameworks governing media coverage of election campaigns, in order to bring them into line with Council of Europe standards, ensuring in particular that they: (...) 8.11. enhance the operational capacities of media regulators which must be independent of the political and economic powers; in this regard: 8.11.1. ensure that the composition of these bodies is politically neutral and based on media expertise and competence."
- "Concerning more specifically the risks posed by disinformation and undue propaganda on the internet and social media for the smooth conduct of the electoral process, the Assembly calls on member States to: (…) 9.2. develop specific regulatory frameworks for internet content at election times and include in these frameworks provisions on transparency in relation to sponsored content published on social media, so that the public can be aware of the source that funds electoral advertising or any other information or opinion. "
- "Concerning more specifically the risks posed by disinformation and undue propaganda on the internet and social media for the smooth conduct of the electoral process, the Assembly calls on member States to: (…) 9.6. encourage all stakeholders – including internet intermediaries, media outlets, civil society and academia – to develop participatory initiatives to enable the general public to have a better understanding of the danger of disinformation and undue propaganda on the internet, and to seek together appropriate responses to these phenomena."
- "In addition, member States should: (...) – promote media literacy with regard to the functioning of search engines, in particular on the processes of selecting, ranking and prioritising of search results and on the implications of the use of search engines on users’ right to private life and the protection of their personal data."
- "The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 15.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe, recommends that member States, in consultation with private sector actors and civil society, develop and promote coherent strategies to protect and promote respect for human rights with regard to social networking services, in line with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (...), in particular by engaging with social networking providers to carry out the following actions: (...) − raise users’ awareness, by means of clear and understandable language, of the possible challenges to their human rights and the ways to avoid having a negative impact on other people’s rights when using these services."
- "In view of the foregoing, the Committee of Ministers: (…) - encourages member States to assume their responsibility to address this threat by (…) e) empowering users by promoting critical digital literacy skills and robustly enhancing public awareness of how many data are generated and processed by personal devices, networks, and platforms through algorithmic processes that are trained for data exploitation. Specifically, public awareness should be enhanced of the fact that algorithmic tools are widely used for commercial purposes and, increasingly, for political reasons, as well as for ambitions of anti- or undemocratic power gain, warfare, or to inflict direct harm."
- "In order to redeem its promise of fostering a culture of informed public debate and active participation in the democratic process, it is of the utmost importance that individuals are empowered to understand this environment and its challenges. (…) To this end, individuals need to develop a wide range of skills for media and information use and an awareness of their rights and responsibilities in relation to the use of digital tools and technologies."
- "The Assembly calls on social media companies to: 11.1. define in clear and unambiguous terms the standards regarding admissible or inadmissible content, which must comply with Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and should be accompanied, if need be, by explanations and (fictional) examples of content banned from dissemination."
- "National authorities must not only guarantee journalists’ security and media freedom by preventing and unconditionally condemning blatant violations, but they must also recognise and oppose the threat that more insidious methods pose to the independence and genuine pluralism of the media, to the interest of the public in receiving unbiased, critical information and hence to our democratic systems."
- "The Assembly therefore calls for greater commitment to safeguard journalists’ security and freedom and to uphold media pluralism and independence. It recommends that the Council of Europe member States: (…) 7.5. ensure transparency of the operation of regulatory bodies; the provisions for their appointment, mandate and powers must secure their independence from any influence, especially from governments."
- "Support programmes, projects and activities on media and information literacy, including digital or technological literacy, that encourage people’s critical thinking and critical competencies and promote, among other things (...): 77.1 Competencies to search for, critically evaluate, use and contribute information and media content wisely."
- "In the context of elections, harassment and violence against reporters or political candidates should be prohibited by law, and promptly investigated by the relevant authorities."
- "States should refrain from network shutdowns, which are a categorical violation of international human rights law. They must also ensure that any restriction on blogs, websites, online content and communications platforms is provided by law, and a necessary and proportionate means to protect a legitimate objective."
- "Rather than imposing undue restrictions on freedom of expression and onerous intermediary liability obligations, efforts to address online disinformation should promote an enabling environment for freedom of expression. These measures include: requiring or encouraging heightened transparency regarding advertisement placements and sponsored content; developing and promoting independent fact-checking mechanisms; providing support for independent and diverse public service media outlets; instituting measures to improve public education and media literacy; and collaborating with social media platforms to ensure that their approaches to content moderation, including the use artificial intelligence-driven tools, reinforce and respect human rights."
- "States should promote effective access to the Internet and other digital technologies for all parts of population, including by closing digital gaps based on gender, race, ethnicity, disability, socio-economic status and other bases, and putting in place clear requirements and policies to ensure respect for the principle of net neutrality."
- "There should be no prior censorship of the media, including through means such as the administrative blocking of media websites or Internet shutdowns."
- "There should be no general or ambiguous laws on disinformation, such as prohibitions on spreading “falsehoods” or “non-objective information”."
- "Any administrative body which has the power to oversee rules relating to the media during election periods should be independent of the government and its decisions should be subject to timely judicial review."
- "States should make a concerted effort to promote digital media and information literacy, including in relation to elections."
- "States should consider supporting positive measures to address online disinformation, such as the promotion of independent fact-checking mechanisms and public education campaigns, while avoiding adopting rules criminalising disinformation."
- "States have a special obligation to take rapid and effective measures to prevent, protect, investigate, prosecute and punish attacks, threats, intimidation and harassment, offline and online, against journalists and other media workers, including against their property and families, during election periods, particularly where State actors are or may be involved. This obligation is especially pronounced in relation to female journalists and individuals belonging to marginalised groups."
- "States are under a positive obligation to provide protection to journalists and others who are at risk of being attacked for exercising their right to freedom of expression, to launch effective investigations when such attacks do occur, so that those responsible may be held accountable, and to offer effective remedies to victims."
- "States should refrain from adopting unnecessary and/or disproportionate laws criminalising or imposing harsher penalties on online expression than its offline equivalent."
- "Media outlets and online platforms should enhance their professionalism and social responsibility, including potentially by adopting codes of conduct and fact-checking systems, and putting in place self-regulatory systems or participating in any existing systems, to enforce them."
- "Internet-based technologies play an increasing role in the exercise of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. The Internet can be used for forms of online activism related to assemblies, and such activities warrant protection. The Internet and social media may also legitimately serve as a means of facilitating assemblies."
- "States have a positive duty to facilitate and protect the exercise of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. This duty should be reflected in the legislative framework and relevant law enforcement regulations and practices. It includes a duty to facilitate assemblies at the organizer’s preferred location and within ‘sight and sound’ of the intended audience. The duty to protect also involves the protection of assembly organizers and participants from third party individuals or groups who seek to undermine their right to freedom of peaceful assembly."
- "Law enforcement agencies should adopt a human rights-based approach to all aspects of the planning, preparation and policing of assemblies. This means they take into consideration their duty to facilitate and protect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly."