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a simple, superficial and ultimately brief thread on this last day of my mandate as @UN special rapporteur on freedom of opinion & expression. pls read this first, the touchstone for the mandate #Article19 #ICCPR https://treaties.un.org/doc/publication/unts/volume%20999/volume-999-i-14668-english.pdf
every major human rights institution has recognized that freedom of expression is essential to democratic society & to the enjoyment & promotion of every other right. as the Human Rights Committee has put it in General Comment 34: https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/gc34.pdf
that means, among other things, a free and independent media, accountability for attacks on journalists, protection and promotion of access to information and #whistleblowers, freedom to dissent, mock, criticize, create, learn, discover, hold opinions without interference...
yet all too often governments around the world say one thing ('we respect free expression!') & yet abuse the permissible limitations (art 19(3) above), persecute those who exercise the right, whine about coverage and demonize independent media. see https://freedex.org/report-on-critical-contemporary-challenges-to-freedom-of-expression/
they do this bc they lack commitment to democracy. let's be clear. the worst restrictions on expression are about maintaining power, preserving corrupt systems, & avoiding accountability. search my nearly 1500 communications here for examples: https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/Tmsearch/TMDocuments
meanwhile, businesses have enormous power over public debate and the individual's access to information. i've been asking questions about business responsibility throughout my mandate. see https://freedex.org/new-report-on-freedom-of-expression-states-and-the-private-sector-in-the-digital-age/
and especially consider the extraordinary and dangerously unregulated role of the private #surveillance industry https://freedex.org/surveillance-industry/
i leave the mandate convinced more than ever than human rights standards must guide State and company behavior. that means recognizing that Article 19 stands for the rights of individuals as speakers (impart) AND audiences, citizens, consumers, students... (seek & receive)
it means demanding that any authority seeking to restrict free expression justify the limitation, its legality, its legitimacy, & most importantly, its necessity & proportionality. *that is emphatically their burden, not ours.*
it means insisting that governments and public officials stop their dangerous games of disinformation & that private platforms attack the problem with the urgency it demands, all using human rights standards as the guide. see https://twitter.com/davidakaye/status/982059513657245697?s=20
and it especially means recognizing the central role that civil society must play, and ensuring that individuals and communities have a say in the governance of the spaces that are most essential to them. this is a group effort. https://twitter.com/davidakaye/status/1281676160892428289?s=20
always more to say, but i'm going to sign off here. stay healthy. oppose censorship. promote independent voices. dissent or support but please engage. & wish good luck & success to @Irenekhan!
