A/HRC/42/CRP.5 Mission acknowledges that the Government justified its internet shutdown on the grounds that it was intended “to maintain the stability and law and order”1089 and to “reduce racial hatred”, purportedly to stem Bamar-Rakhine hate speech on social media.1090 The Mission accepts that these are legitimate purposes. The Mission also acknowledges that the internet shutdown was geographically restricted to Ponnangyun, Kyauktaw, Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Mrauk-U, Minbya, and Myebon townships in Rakhine State and Paletwa Township in Chin State. On 31 August 2019 the shutdown was limited to four of these nine townships. The Mission nonetheless concludes on reasonable grounds that the manner in which the internet shutdown was applied exceeded what was necessary and proportionate to achieve the legitimate purpose given by the Government. 471. First, the Government’s justification that it shut down the internet to “reduce racial hatred” is questionable in the context of its failure to address hate speech against the Rohingya. The Mission continued to monitor anti-Rohingya hate speech on the internet and found no apparent action from the Government to remove and prevent it. If the Government was now sincerely concerned with this issue, the Mission would have observed the Government taking steps to address this issue on the internet across the country and not only in relation to Bamar-Rakhine relations.1091 Second, the Government did not impose tailored restrictions that corresponded to legitimate concerns it may have had about specific individuals, accounts or social media platforms promoting insecurity or disseminating hate speech. Rather than imposing restrictions on parts of the internet and on some users of the internet and taking the least restrictive means to achieve the stated purpose of the shutdown, the Government imposed a blanket shutdown on everyone in a wide geographic area with a population of approximately one million people. It did this knowing the negative consequences it would have on freedom of expression and information, especially in relation to human rights violations, and on humanitarian coordination and the provision of humanitarian relief and family assistance. Confining the shutdown to four townships did not bring the shutdown into compliance with international human rights law, as it remains an indiscriminate, insufficiently precise, untailored and disproportionate restriction on freedom of opinion and expression. The Mission’s position finds additional support from the Human Rights Council,1092 the Human Rights Committee,1093 UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of expression, 1094 and the May 2015 Joint Declaration on Freedom of Expression and Responses to Conflict Situations,1095 all of which have articulated strong concerns and condemnation of internet shutdowns under international human rights law. VI. The situation in northern Myanmar A. Introduction 472. Since June 2011, the protracted conflicts in Kachin and Shan States have escalated and have been characterized both by intensifying fighting between the Tatmadaw and the 1089 1090 1091 1092 1093 1094 1095 132 https://www.bnionline.net/mm/news-66228. https://burma.irrawaddy.com/news/2019/06/24/195854.html. See A/HRC/39/CRP.2, p. 320-322. See, Human Rights Council, The promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet, A/HRC/RES/32/13. See also A/HRC/RES/38/7, para. 4; and A/HRC/RES/39/6, para. 6. Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 34 to Article 19: Freedoms of opinion and expression, CCPR/C/GC/34, para. 43. See, A/HRC/35/22; UN expert urges DRC to restore internet services, 7 January 2019, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24057&LangID=E. UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Representative on Freedom of the Media, the Organization of American States (OAS) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, Joint Declaration on Freedom of Expression and responses to conflict situations, para. 4(a). Available: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15921&LangID=E.