UN rapporteur presents report on online free expression

Reporters Without Borders hails the annual report of Frank La Rue, the United Nations special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and supports the conclusions that he presented to the UN Human Rights Council today. Reporters Without Borders also supports the statement that the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) submitted today to the Human Rights Council, which is holding its 17 ordinary session. Reporters Without Borders also hails the joint statement on the applicability of free expression to the Internet that the special rapporteurs for freedom of expression of the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Organization of American States and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights issued on 1 June. The statement stresses that: “The right to freedom of expression imposes an obligation on states to promote universal access to the Internet.” It also reaffirms the principles of Net Neutrality and the non-liability of technical intermediaries for content.