A/HRC/41/41 of the rights holders affected. States should provide remediation through independent judicial, administrative or legislative authorities or any other competent independent authority provided by the legal system. 73. States should create an enabling legal framework for the right to peaceful assembly and association in the digital age, by: (a) Repealing, or refraining from introducing, laws that unduly restrict or undermine the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, including anti-protest laws; (b) Repealing and amending any laws and policies that allow network disruptions and shutdowns, and refraining from adopting such laws and policies; (c) Revising and amending cybercrime, surveillance and antiterrorism laws and bringing them into compliance with international human rights norms and standards governing the right to privacy, the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of association; (d) Promoting and protecting strong encryption and anonymity, including by adopting laws, regulations and policies that confer only on courts the power to remove the right to anonymity, rather than on law enforcement agencies. 74. Refrain from, and cease, measures such as cutting off access to the Internet and telecommunications services. Access to Internet and mobile telephony services should be maintained at all times, including during times of civil unrest. Access to and use of digital technologies during elections for assembly and association purposes should be specially respected, protected and promoted. 75. End all practices of blocking websites of civil society organizations and human right defenders. 76. Prohibit the use of surveillance techniques for the indiscriminate and untargeted surveillance of those exercising the right to peaceful assembly and association, both in physical spaces and online. 77. Refrain from unduly conducting targeted surveillance using digital tools against civil society actors, protest organizers, minorities and others seeking to exercise their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. In order to be permissible, targeted surveillance may occur only on the basis that such activities are adopted openly; are time-limited; operate in accordance with established international standards of legal prescription, legitimate aim, necessity and proportionality; and are subjected to continued independent supervision that includes robust mechanisms for prior authorization, operational oversight and review. Individuals and groups should be notified if their rights are breached by surveillance, and effective remedies should be guaranteed. 78. Any application of new forms of technological surveillance should also adhere to the above-mentioned principles and standards – including surveillance conducted extraterritorially. States should set up independent inquiries to examine the use of any surveillance technologies, so that the public can assess the manner and frequency of their use, the justifications for and the necessity and proportionality of that use, and whether such technologies are being used in an improper or overly broad way. 79. End all acts of government-sponsored online trolling, intimidation and disinformation targeted at civil society actors. States should investigate these acts, provide effective remedies, and adopt and implement preventive measures. In this context, States should identify and address gender-specific forms of online violence and barriers preventing women from accessing justice. 80. States should duly implement their duty to protect against abuses of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association by business enterprises by taking appropriate steps to prevent, investigate, punish and redress such abuse through effective policies, legislation, regulations and adjudication. This includes adopting and 18