A/HRC/RES/44/12 Underlining that digital contexts provide opportunities for exercising the right to freedom of opinion and expression, regardless of frontiers, for improving access to information and for seeking, receiving and imparting information and ideas of all kinds, and emphasizing that, in the digital age, technical solutions to secure and protect the confidentiality of digital communications, including measures for encryption and anonymity, can be important to ensure the enjoyment of human rights, including the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Expressing concern that many forms of digital divide remain between and within countries and regions, and recognizing the need to close them, including through international cooperation, and recognizing also that the gender digital divide, which includes significant gender disparities in terms of access to and use of information and communications technology, undermines women’s and girls’ full enjoyment of human rights, including the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Acknowledging the important role of, inter alia, journalists and other media workers, and human rights defenders, in the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and in this context expressing deep concern that violations and abuses of the right to freedom of opinion and expression continue to occur in the exercise, in particular by women journalists and other media workers and women human rights defenders, of this right, Reaffirming the fundamental role of the right to freedom of opinion and expression in the possibility of women to interact with society at large on equal terms, particularly in the realms of economic and political participation, and reaffirming also that the full and meaningful participation of women and girls is essential to achieving gender equality, sustainable development, peace and democracy, Stressing the need to ensure that measures for the protection of national security, public order and public health are in full compliance with international human rights obligations, including the principles of lawfulness, legitimacy, necessity and proportionality, and stressing also the need to protect human rights, including the freedom of opinion and expression and privacy, and personal data in the response to health or other emergencies, Expressing concern at the spread of disinformation and misinformation, which can be designed and implemented so as to mislead, to violate and to abuse human rights, including privacy and the freedom of individuals to seek, receive and impart information, and to incite all forms of violence, hatred, discrimination and hostility, inter alia, racism, xenophobia, negative stereotyping and stigmatization, Stressing that responses to the spread of disinformation and misinformation must be grounded in international human rights law, including the principles of lawfulness, legitimacy, necessity and proportionality, and underlining the importance of free, independent, plural and diverse media and of providing and promoting access to independent, fact-based and science-based information to counter disinformation and misinformation, Stressing also the importance of ensuring transparency and accountability in algorithmic, human and technical decision-making, given the risks of undue restriction on access to information and freedom of opinion and expression, Acknowledging that the promotion and protection of human rights and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are interrelated and mutually reinforcing, and that, in accordance with target 16.10 of the Sustainable Development Goals, all States are to ensure public access to information and to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements, Recognizing that the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, both online and offline, through any media and regardless of frontiers is one of the central components of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, as reflected in article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and that obstacles to access to information can undermine the enjoyment of civil and political rights, as well as economic, social and cultural rights, 2