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By: Sahibzada Zaheen Iqbal
The United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva passed its first resolution on internet freedom with a call for all states to support individuals' rights online as much as offline.
All 47 members of the the HRC signed the resolution unanimously backing the notion that freedom of expression online is a basic human right. Even countries like China, Russia and India, that restrict or censor people's free access to information online or use the internet to conduct covert surveillance on their citizens, approved the resolution.
"This outcome is momentous for the Human Rights Council," US ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe told reporters.
"It's the first UN resolution that confirms that human rights in the internet realm must be protected with the same commitment as in the real world."
“The same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, in particular freedom of expression, which is applicable regardless of frontiers and through any media of one’s choice.”
The resolution is the inference of the Freedom of Expression, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, which states that:
"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."
All 47 members of the the HRC signed the resolution unanimously backing the notion that freedom of expression online is a basic human right. Even countries like China, Russia and India, that restrict or censor people's free access to information online or use the internet to conduct covert surveillance on their citizens, approved the resolution.
"This outcome is momentous for the Human Rights Council," US ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe told reporters.
"It's the first UN resolution that confirms that human rights in the internet realm must be protected with the same commitment as in the real world."
“The same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, in particular freedom of expression, which is applicable regardless of frontiers and through any media of one’s choice.”
The resolution is the inference of the Freedom of Expression, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, which states that:
"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."
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