The UN Human Rights Council Resolution on Human Rights on the Internet: Boost or Bust for Online Human Rights Protection?

Abstract:     
Human rights play a central role on the Internet. They are the base layer on which human security in the information society can be ensured and the normative foil against which human security assessments of national (and international) Internet Governance policies can be conducted. In July 2012, the UN Human Rights Council has passed a key resolution confirming that the same human rights that people enjoy offline must also be protected online. The contribution parses the resolution and engages in a critical review of its main points. While the commitment to human rights protection will be identified as an important boost for human rights, the Council failed to more clearly lay down the limits to state limitations of human rights online. The contribution will conclude with the call to take the resolution as a starting point to operationalize the commitment to human rights online, a process that can be helped by the interpretative impact of human security. The concept, in turn, will be influenced by the evolution of Internet rights and principles.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 26

Keywords: Human Security, Human Rights online, Internet Governance, Access, Openness, Internet Architecture, International Internet Law

Accepted Paper Series