A/HRC/41/41 III. The rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the digital age: international legal framework A. State obligations 10. The rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association are protected in article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in articles 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Human Rights Council has emphasized that States have the obligation to respect and fully protect these rights online as well as offline.2 The General Assembly has also called upon all States to “ensure that the same rights that individuals have offline, including the rights to freedom of expression, of peaceful assembly and of association, are also fully protected online, in accordance with human rights law”.3 11. In previous reports, the mandate holder has recognized that digital technology is integral to the exercise of the rights of peaceful assembly and association. 4 Technology serves both as a means to facilitate the exercise of the rights of assembly and association offline, and as virtual spaces where the rights themselves can be actively exercised.5 Indeed, such technologies are important tools for organizers who seek to mobilize a large group of people in a prompt and effective manner, and at little cost, and also serve as online spaces for groups of people that are marginalized by society and are confronted with restrictions when operating in physical spaces.6 The mandate holder has called upon States to ensure that everyone can access and use the Internet to exercise these rights, and that online associations7 and assemblies8 are facilitated in accordance with international human rights standards. The Human Rights Council has recognized that although an assembly has generally been understood as a physical gathering of people, human rights protections, including for freedom of assembly, may apply to analogous interactions taking place online.9 12. While these rights are not absolute, the freedom to access and use digital technologies for the exercise of peaceful assembly and association rights should be viewed as the rule, and the limitations as the exception. The general norm should be to permit the open and free use of the Internet and other digital tools. 10 Resolution 15/21 of the Human Rights Council makes it clear that to be permissible restrictions should be “prescribed by law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order (ordre public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others”.11 Where such restrictions are made, “States must demonstrate their necessity and only take such measures as are proportionate to the pursuance of legitimate aims in order to ensure continuous and effective protection of Covenant rights. In no case may the restrictions be applied or invoked in a manner that would impair the essence of a Covenant right.”12 13. States not only have a negative obligation to abstain from unduly interfering with the rights of peaceful assembly and of association but also have a positive obligation to facilitate and protect these rights in accordance with international human rights standards. 13 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 4 See Human Rights Council resolution 38/7. See General Assembly resolution 73/173. See A/HRC/20/27 and A/HRC/38/34. A/HRC/29/25/Add.1, para. 53. See A/HRC/35/28. A/HRC/20/27, para. 52. A/HRC/29/25/Add.1, para. 34. See Human Rights Council resolution 38/11. A/HRC/23/39, para. 76. See Human Rights Council resolution 15/21. Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 31 (2004) on the nature of the general legal obligation imposed on States parties to the Covenant, para. 6. A/HRC/17/27, para. 66; and A/HRC/29/25/Add.1.