1125 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "Law enforcement officials involved in policing assemblies must respect and ensure the exercise of the fundamental rights of organizers and participants, while also protecting journalists, monitors and observers, medical personnel and other members of the public, as well as public and private property, from harm."
- "The mandate holder has called upon States to ensure that everyone can access and use the Internet to exercise these rights, and that online associations and assemblies are facilitated in accordance with international human rights standards. The Human Rights Council has recognized that although an assembly has generally been understood as a physical gathering of people, human rights protections, including for freedom of assembly, may apply to analogous interactions taking place online."
- "Likewise, States should recognize the value of technology to facilitate people’s rights to public participation. The Special Rapporteur welcomes efforts by many governments to establish online platforms through which those interested can submit and collect signatures for petitions on government policies and legislative action."
- "In general, the blocking of entire websites is an extreme, disproportionate measure that severely limits the ability to carry out these activities, and therefore undermines the exercise of freedom of assembly and association."
- "States should promote and facilitate access to digital technologies, and should not put restrictions on their use for the exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. Policies and practices should address equal access to the Internet and digital technologies, the affordability, and participation in the digital age for all, so as to bridge the digital divide. "
- "States should create an enabling legal framework for the right to peaceful assembly and association in the digital age, by: (…) (b) Repealing and amending any laws and policies that allow network disruptions and shutdowns, and refraining from adopting such laws and policies; (c) Revising and amending cybercrime, surveillance and antiterrorism laws and bringing them into compliance with international human rights norms and standards governing the right to privacy, the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of association."
- "Refrain from, and cease, measures such as cutting off access to the Internet and telecommunications services. Access to Internet and mobile telephony services should be maintained at all times, including during times of civil unrest. Access to and use of digital technologies during elections for assembly and association purposes should be specially respected, protected and promoted."
- "Companies should take effective measures to ensure transparency of their policies and practices, including the application of their terms of service and of computation-based review processes, and respect due process guarantees. To this end, companies should publish regular information on their official websites regarding the legal basis of requests made by governments and other third parties and regarding the number or percentage of requests complied with, and about content or accounts restricted or removed under the company’s own policies and community guidelines."
- "The Special Rapporteur calls upon States in times of elections: (…) (c) To ensure that no one is criminalized for exercising the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, nor is subject to threats or use of violence, harassment, persecution, intimidation or reprisals."
- "As an important public source of unbiased information and diverse political opinions, public service media must remain independent from political or economic interference and achieve high editorial standards of impartiality, objectivity and fairness."
- "Public service media should be subject to constant public scrutiny and be accountable and transparent when performing their functions as they have the obligation to serve the public in all its diversity, including minority communities that would not be served in a purely commercial market. Public service media must also take into account the gender equality perspective in terms of both content and staff."
- "In general, to be effective, remedies should be capable of discontinuing an ongoing violation, making reparations to individuals whose rights have been violated, bringing to justice perpetrators of the violation and preventing similar infringements in the future."
- "In order for the remedy of a violation to be effective, it must be provided in a timely and appropriate manner. This is particularly important in the electoral context due to the time-sensitive nature of the fast-paced process."
- "Electoral disputes should be subject to prompt review. While there is no set standard for time limits, good electoral practice recommends three to five days, although longer deadlines may be allowed for the highest courts. Likewise, in challenges against election results, it is advisable that the final resolution of all complaints and appeals take place within two months, maximum."
- "The election administration should be legally empowered to take measures that stop any ongoing infringement, restore violated rights, sanction those who violate legislation and prevent similar infringements in the future. Also, the election administration should be required by law to refer any possible criminal matters that come to its attention to the relevant law enforcement body and to forward complaints not under its jurisdiction to the relevant body."
- "Due to the unique nature of election complaints, investigators must make their decisions in a timely fashion and in accordance with the rules, policies, and procedures that govern the electoral process."
- "The principle of prompt investigation is important because election processes and results are time-bound, evidence may be time-sensitive or subject to destruction following an election, and impunity for electoral offenses may linger from one electoral cycle to the next if not dealt with in a timely manner."
- "The principle of effective investigation is directly linked to the fact that individuals must have accessible and effective remedies in place to protect their political rights."
- "Given that there are legally specified periods for each electoral phase, decisions must be both timely and definitive. This implies that conflicts must be resolved before the conclusion of each respective phase of the electoral contest (e.g., any questions arising around the validity of an electoral candidate must be resolved conclusively before the electoral registration period has been completed)."
- "Financial sanctions should be proportionate and therefore severe enough to fulfil their purpose of inhibiting prohibited conduct. If they are merely symbolic, this may be read as an invitation to break the law, as the person committing the infraction may calculate that the benefits of violating a prohibition may be greater than the cost of the sanction. "
- "The main guarantee of an effective EDR system is the availability of a remedy that can correct an irregularity by annulling, revoking, modifying or even just acknowledging it. Other mechanisms can either deter or punish a transgressor through a regime of criminal or administrative liability."
- "Electoral judicial proceedings should be timely, that is, a decision should be reached promptly and expeditiously within the legally established periods or stages of the electoral process. A decision taken outside this time frame may be unfair, and would make it impossible to correct the damage done to some electoral rights."
- "Reasonable deadlines should be provided for bringing challenges (generally shorter than those for civil litigation and other branches of administrative law). These need to balance the time required by the person alleging harm by a particular electoral act or decision to take stock of its content and scope and to gather the evidence, on the one hand, against the need to obtain a timely resolution, given that electoral processes proceed in stages that cannot be changed or interrupted."
- "Violence against women in politics, as all forms of gender-based violence, constitutes a violation of human rights and is a form of discrimination against women prohibited under international human rights standards, under which States have due diligence obligations to prevent, investigate and punish acts of violence against women, whether they are perpetrated by State or non-State actors. States, therefore, have a duty to eradicate and prevent acts of violence against women in politics."
- "The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations to States: (a) Adopt and implement legislation prohibiting and criminalizing violence against women in politics or incorporate adequate provisions into existing laws on eliminating violence against women, consistent with international and regional human rights standards. That includes laws to prohibit sexism, harassment and other forms gender-based violence against women in politics, public life and parliament. Laws must be comprehensive enough to cover new forms of violence, including online or ICT-facilitated violence against women. "
- "States should also promote digital literacy in the use of the Internet and ICT for all, without sex- or gender-based discrimination, and promote gender equality at all levels of education, including online education, from early childhood onwards."
- "Internet intermediaries should uphold the principle that human rights are protected online, and voluntary accept and apply all core international human rights and women’s rights instruments with a view to contributing to universal human rights protection and achieving the empowerment of women, and the elimination of discrimination and violence against them in digital space."
- "Intermediaries should publish clear and a comprehensive contents moderation policy and human rights safeguards against arbitrary censorship, and transparent reviews and appeal processes."
- "Intermediaries should ensure data security and privacy, and ensure that the use of data is in compliance with international human rights law and has the fully informed consent of data providers."
- "The Assembly recognises universal access to the internet as a key internet governance principle and considers that the right to internet access, with no discrimination, is an essential component of any sound policy designed to promote inclusion and support social cohesion, as well as an essential factor of sustainable democratic and socio-economic development."
- "In addition, support for initiatives promoting media and information literacy skills for accessing and managing the digital space is essential."
- "In line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework, intermediaries should respect the human rights of their users and affected parties in all their actions. This includes the responsibility to act in compliance with applicable laws and regulatory frameworks."
- "Any request, demand or other action by public authorities addressed to internet intermediaries that interferes with human rights and fundamental freedoms shall be prescribed by law, exercised within the limits conferred by law and constitute a necessary and proportionate measure in a democratic society. States should not exert pressure on internet intermediaries through non-legal means."
- "State authorities should obtain an order by a judicial authority or other independent administrative authority, whose decisions are subject to judicial review, when demanding intermediaries to restrict access to content."
- "Internet intermediaries should ensure that all terms of service agreements and policies specifying the rights of users and all other standards and practices for content moderation and the processing and disclosure of user data are publicly available in clear, plain language and accessible formats."
- "Internet intermediaries should clearly and transparently provide meaningful public information about the operation of automated data processing techniques in the course of their activities, including the operation of algorithms that facilitate searches based on user profiling or the distribution of algorithmically selected and personalised content, such as news. This should include information on which data is being processed, how long the data processing will take, which criteria are used, and for what purpose the processing takes place."
- "Internet intermediaries should respect the rights of users to receive, produce and impart information, opinions and ideas. Any measures taken to restrict access (including blocking or removing content) as a result of a State order or request should be implemented using the least restrictive means."
- "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 intermediaries should limit the processing of personal user data to what is necessary in the context of a clearly defined purpose, which is explicitly communicated to all users in a proactive manner. The processing, including collection, retention, aggregation, storage, adaptation, alteration, linking or sharing of personal data shall be based on the free, specific, informed and unambiguous consent of the user, with respect to a specific purpose, or on another legitimate basis laid down by law, as prescribed by Convention 108."
- "Users have the right to access their personal data and to obtain correction, deletion and blocking of it. Intermediaries should therefore provide them with relevant information at all stages of processing, using clear and plain language, especially where such information is addressed to children. Moreover, intermediaries should inform users clearly about the conditions under which they may exercise the right to personal data erasure, to object to the processing of data and to withdraw consent provided for the processing of personal data, following which all processing based on the consent of the user should be terminated."
- "Internet intermediaries should make available – online and offline – effective remedies and dispute resolution systems that provide prompt and direct redress in cases of user, content provider and affected party grievances."
- "Intermediaries should ensure that all users and other parties affected by their actions have full and easy access to transparent information in clear and easily understandable language about applicable complaint mechanisms, the various stages of the procedure, indicative time frames and expected outcomes."
- "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 service providers should provide users with clear, complete and publicly available information with regard to any traffic management practices which might affect users’ access to and distribution of content, applications or services. "
- "Internet service providers should put in place appropriate, clear, open and efficient procedures to respond within reasonable time limits to complaints from Internet users alleging breaches of the principles included in the foregoing provisions. Internet users should have the possibility to refer the matter directly to competent authorities within each member State and be entitled to timely redress."
- "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."