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
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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.
Civic space and content governance
Special Rapporteurs
Freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression
Report presented to the 40th session of the HRC in 2019 exploring explores freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression as two closely interrelated and mutually reinforcing rights, and addressing, among other things, the impact of online platforms and related restrictions, including the use of facial recognition technology
2019
Business - Private Sector
Special Procedures
Technology and corporate respect for 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 the 7th annual Forum on Business and Human Rights, which includes a chapter on technology and corporate respect for human rights
2019
Civic space and content governance
Special Rapporteurs
Judicial system: improper use of new technology and social media
Report presented to the 74th session of the UNGA in 2019 on the essential role that the Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary have played as guarantors of judicial independence, and the status of threats and challenges to the independence of judges and lawyers and the judicial system as a whole in the current global context, noting, among other things, the improper use of new technology and social media can negatively influence public perception of the justice system and undermine public trust in the functioning of judicial institutions
2019
Civic space and content governance ; Security � Counter-Terrorism
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
Civic Space and Content Governance
Special Rapporteurs
Human rights analysis of efforts by contemporary Nazi, neo-Nazi and other extremist groups to recruit and radicalize young people
Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
2019