ABOUT
Welcome to the United Nations Hub for Human Rights and Digital Technology. As our world becomes ever-more digital, there is a greater need for our rights to be respected both online and offline. The UN has been considering how our valuable human rights protections apply in the digital space. You can find the full scope of key texts, including standards, analysis, and recommendations emerging from the United Nations human rights mechanisms, on this site.
"Together, as we seek to recover from the pandemic, we must learn to better curtail harmful use of digital technology and to better unleash its power as a democratizing force and an enabler."
UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL
ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
BROWSE BY THEME
NEW SEARCH
Use the search bar below to find materials on specific issues. You may also explore different themes by clicking on the boxes below. New materials will be added regularly.
Artificial Intelligence; Discrimination and equality;
Working Groups
Data for racial justice
Working Group of experts on people of African descent, 2019, Report presented to the 42nd session of the HRC in 2019 on the Working Group's 23rd and 24th sessions held in Geneva, Switzerland, which focused on the theme Data for racial justice, summarizing discussions on, among other things, the potential racial bias that artificial intelligence and algorithms may have, including in the criminal justice sector
2019
Security � Counter-Terrorism; Civic space and content governance
Special Rapporteurs
Terrorism and violent extremism on civic space
Report presented to the 40th session of the HRC in 2019 on the impact of measures to address terrorism and violent extremism on civic space and the rights of civil society actors and human rights defenders, examining, among other things, the use of the internet for terrorist purposes
2019
Business - Private Sector; Discrimination and equality;
Special Procedures
Use of new technologies by business enterprise and the impacts on women?s human rights
Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises 2019 | Report presented to the 41st session of the HRC in 2019 on integrating a gender perspective in implementing the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which provide, under Principle 13, that business enterprises should ensure that new technologies such as artificial intelligence and automation do not have disproportionate adverse impacts on women's human rights
2019
Civic space and content governance ; Discrimination and equality
Independent Experts
Violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
Report presented to the 41st session of the HRC in 2019 on data collection and management as a means to create heightened awareness of violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
2019
Civic space and content governance ; Discrimination and equality
Human Rights Council
Online violence against women and girls
Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences on online violence against women and girls from a human rights perspective -
2018
SDGs - Digital divide
Special Rapporteurs
Impact of new technologies on the human rights of persons living in poverty
Report presented to the 41st session of the HRC in 2019 on the Special Rapporteur's country visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 5 to 16 November 2018 during which the Special Rapporteur examined, among other things, the impact of new technologies (e.g., the use of :big data, artificial intelligence, algorithms and automated decision-making processes) on the human rights of those living in poverty, especially in terms of the functioning of the welfare system. End of mission statement: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Poverty/EOM_GB_16Nov2018.pdf
2019
SDGs - Digital divide
Special Rapporteurs
Communication technologies and cultural awareness training for health-care workers
Report presented to the 74th session of the UNGA in 2019 on the education of healthcare workers, referring to, among other things, technologies and to communication technologies in particular as supplies (along with essential medicines, vaccines and medical products) needed by healthcare workers to function adequately and stressing that ?[e]ssential health interventions and technologies should not be limited to biomedical products and should include effective psychosocial and population-based public health interventions? and further noting that the ?[t]he implementation of important communication technologies and cultural awareness training for health-care workers, including doctors, have been found to be effective in promoting access to health care in persons with disabilities?
2019