SPECIAL COLLECTION OF THE CASE LAW ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 1. International legal framework 1.1. Access to internet as an enabler of human rights International law has developed well-established principles recognizing access to the internet as a necessary precondition for the exercise and enjoyment of human rights online and offline. The UN Human Rights Council has consistently affirmed that “the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online” and has called upon all States to enhance the access to and use of the internet in order to promote the full enjoyment of human rights for all.14 The United Nations Secretary General also recognized in his Roadmap to Digital Cooperation that “human rights exist online as they do offline and have to be respected in full.”15 At the regional level, the Council of Europe confirmed that the European Convention on Human Rights applies both offline and online, while member States have negative and positive obligations to respect, protect and promote human rights and fundamental freedoms on the internet.16 Given the positive obligation of States to promote and facilitate the enjoyment of human rights, in 2022, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) called on States to take “all steps necessary to ensure that all individuals have meaningful access to the Internet”, and to “refrain from interfering with access to the Internet and digital communications platforms unless such interference is in full compliance with the requirements of the applicable human rights instruments.”17 The 2016 UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Resolution on the Promotion, Protection, and Enjoyment of Human Rights on the Internet, adopted by consensus, unequivocally condemns measures to intentionally prevent or disrupt access to or dissemination of information online in violation of international human rights law and calls on all States to refrain from and cease any such restrictive measures.18 14 Ending Internet shutdowns: a path forward. Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. Human Rights Council Forty-seventh session 15 June 2021, A/HRC/47/24/Add.2, para 9, https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/ UNDOC/GEN/G21/149/66/PDF/G2114966.pdf?OpenElement. See also: Human Rights Council resolutions 20/8 of 5 July 2012, 26/13 of 26 June 2014, 32/13 of 1 July 2016, 38/7 of 5 July 2018, and 47/16 of July 2021; International Telecommunications Union, The World Telecommunication Development Conference, Resolution 67 (Kigali, 2022), The role of the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector in child online protection, https://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-d/opb/tdc/D-TDC-WTDC-2022-PDF-E.pdf. 15 Road map for digital cooperation: implementation of the recommendations of the High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation, Report of the Secretary-General, 20 May 2020, A/74/821, para 38, https://www.un.org/en/content/digital-cooperation-roadmap/. 16 See, e.g. Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)5[1] of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to member States on Internet freedom (Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 13 April 2016 at the 1253rd meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies), https://search.coe.int/cm/ Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectId=09000016806415fa. See also: Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)2 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on the roles and responsibilities of internet intermediaries (Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 7 March 2018 at the 1309th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies), para 1; IACHR. Standards for a Free, Open and Inclusive Internet (2017), para. 32; ACHPR. Declaration of principles on freedom of expression and access to information in Africa, adopted in 2019. See also, 362 Resolution on the Right to Freedom of Information and Expression on the Internet in Africa - ACHPR/Res.362(LIX)2016. 17 Internet shutdowns: trends, causes, legal implications and impacts on a range of human rights. Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 13 May 2022, A/HRC/50/55, Para 8, https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ ahrc5055-internet-shutdowns-trends-causes-legal-implications-and-impacts. 18 UN Human Rights Council Resolution (A/HRC/RES/32/13) on the Promotion, Protection, and Enjoyment of Human Rights on the Internet. This was the first UN resolution that spoke directly to internet shutdowns. This language has been repeated and strengthened in various resolutions since 2016. 10