Lok Sabha Question No. 2372 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-30
Subject: Right of Freedom and Privacy on Internet
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: SHASHI THAROOR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2372 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30 TH  NOVEMBER, 2016

## RIGHT OF FREEDOM AND PRIVACY ON INTERNET

2372. DR. SHASHI THAROOR:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

(a) whether India recently  supported amendments to the United Nations Human Rights  Council  (NHRC)  resolution  on  the  promotion,  protection  and  enjoyment  of human rights on the Internet as the freedom of opinion and expression and the right to privacy in the digital age;

- (b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether India also supported an amendment to replace the adoption of human rights-based approach to provide open access to the Internet and bridge the digital divide;

- (d) if so, the details thereof; and

(e) the steps taken by the Government to provide access to internet and bridge the digital divide?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a) to (d) Madam, A resolution on 'the Promotion and Protection and enjoyment of  Human  Rights  on  Internet'  during  the  32 nd Session  of  United  Nations  Human Rights Council (UNHRC) June-July, 2016 was adopted without a vote. A copy of the resolution that was adopted is at Annexure. India voted in favour of the amendments proposed  by  Russia  that  covered  PP3  (Preamble  Paragraph),  PP17  and  OP5 (Operational Paragraph) of the resolution.

(e) The  following  steps  have  been  taken  to  provide  the  access  to  internet  and bridge digital divide:

- i. BharatNet is planned to create network infrastructure for providing  Broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats (GPs) (approx. 2,50,000) in the country.
- ii. The Rural Wireline Broadband Scheme for providing broadband connectivity to rural & remote areas with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) at pan-India level  has  been  made  operational  on  January  20,  2009.  A  total  of  6,56,345 broadband connections have been provided and 15,671 kiosks have been set up in rural and remote areas.

- iii.  A  project  proposal  has  been  approved    to  implement  a  Comprehensive Telecom  Development  Plan  for  the North-Eastern Region  (NER)  which envisages to provide mobile coverage to 8621 identified uncovered villages by installation of about 6673 mobile towers, installation of 321 mobile tower sites along  National  Highways  and  strengthening  of  transmission  network  in  the NER.
- iv.   2199 mobile towers are being set up in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected States.
- v. 7,317  Mobile  towers  have  been  installed  with  the  financial  support  from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) under the Shared Mobile Infrastructure  Scheme  in  villages  or  cluster  of  villages  having  population  of 2000 or more and not having mobile coverage.

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|                                             | Annexure       |
|---------------------------------------------|----------------|
| United Nations                              | A /HRC/32/L.20 |
| General Assembly Distr.: Limited            |                |
| ORAL REVISIONS of 30 June Original: English |                |

## Human Rights Council

## Thirty-second session

Agenda item 3

## Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development

Australia,* Austria,* Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina,* Brazil,* Bulgaria,* Canada,* Croatia,* Cyprus,* Czech Republic,* Denmark,* Estonia,* Fiji,* Finland,* France, Georgia, Germany, Greece,* Haiti,* Honduras,* Hungary,* Iceland,* Ireland,* Italy,* Japan,* Latvia, Liechtenstein,* Lithuania,* Luxembourg,* Malta,* Mexico, Monaco,* Montenegro,* Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway,* Paraguay, Poland,* Portugal, Republic of Moldova,* Romania,* Senegal,* Serbia,* Slovakia,* Slovenia, Spain,* Sweden, * the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia,* Turkey,* Ukraine,* United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America:* draft resolution

## 32/…  The promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet

The Human Rights Council ,

Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, Reaffirming the  human  rights  and  fundamental  freedoms  enshrined  in  the Universal  Declaration  of  Human  Rights  and  relevant  international  human  rights treaties,  including  the  International  Covenant  on  Civil  and  Political  Rights  and  the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Recalling all  relevant  resolutions  of  the  Commission  on  Human  Rights  and the  Human  Rights  Council  on  the  right  to  freedom  of  opinion  and  expression,  in particular Council resolution 20/8 of 5 July 2012 and 26/13 of 26 June 2014, on the promotion,  protection,  and  enjoyment  of  human  rights  on  the  Internet,  as  well  as resolutions 12/16 of 2 October 2009, on freedom of opinion and expression, 28/16 of 24 March 2015, on the right to privacy in the digital age, and 23/2 of 13 June 2013, on  the  role  of  freedom  of  opinion  and  expression  in  women's  empowerment,  and 31/7 of 23 March 2016, on the rights of the child: information and communications

State not a member of the Human Rights Council.

3

*

technologies  and  child  sexual  exploitation,  and  also  recalling  General  Assembly resolutions 68/167 of 18 December 2013 and 69/166 of 18 December 2014, on the right to privacy in the digital age, 70/184 of 22 December 2015, on information and communications  technologies  for  development,  and  70/125  of  16  December  2015, containing the outcome document of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the overall review of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society,

Welcoming the  adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 1 and recognizing that the spread of information and communications technology and global interconnectedness has great potential to accelerate human progress, to bridge the digital divide and to develop knowledge societies,

Taking note of the Global Multi-stakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance, held in São Paulo on 23 and 24 April 2014, which acknowledged, inter alia, the need for human rights to underpin Internet governance and that rights that people have offline must also be protected online,

Taking note also of the previous sessions of the Internet Governance Forum, including  the  most  recent  meeting,  held  in  João  Pessoa,  from  10  to  13  November 2015,

Noting that the exercise of human rights, in particular the right to freedom of expression,  on  the  Internet  is  an  issue  of  increasing  interest  and  importance  as  the rapid pace of technological development enables individuals all over the world to use new information and communication technologies,

Noting also the  importance  of  building  confidence  and  trust  in  the  Internet, not least with regard to freedom of expression, privacy and other human rights so that the potential of the Internet as, inter alia, an enabler for development and innovation can be realized, with full cooperation between governments, civil society, the private sector, the technical community and academia,

Recognizing that privacy online is important for the realization of the right to freedom  of  expression  and  to  hold  opinions  without  interference,  and  the  right  to freedom of peaceful assembly and association,

Emphasizing that access to information  on  the Internet facilitates vast opportunities  for  affordable  and  inclusive  education  globally,  thereby  being  an important tool to facilitate the promotion of the right to education, while underlining the need to address digital literacy and the digital divide, as it affects the enjoyment of the right to education,

Expressing  concern that  many  forms  of  digital  divides  remain  between  and within countries and between men and women, boys and girls, and recognizing the need to close them,

Stressing the  importance  of  empowering  all  women  and  girls  by  enhancing their  access  to  information  and  communications  technology,  promoting  digital literacy  and  the  participation  of  women  and  girls  in  education  and  training  on information  and  communications  technology,  and  encouraging  women  and  girls  to embark on careers in the sciences and information and communications technology,

Recalling articles 9 and 21 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which, inter alia, call upon States parties to take appropriate measures to promote access for persons with disabilities to new information and communications technology and systems, including the Internet,

Recognizing that, for the Internet to remain global, open and interoperable, it is imperative that States address security concerns in accordance with their international  human  rights  obligations,  in  particular  with  regard  to  freedom  of expression, freedom of association and privacy,

Deeply  concerned by  all  human  rights  violations  and  abuses  committed against persons for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms on the Internet, and by the impunity for these violations and abuses,

1 General Assembly resolution 70/1.

Deeply concerned also by measures aiming to or that intentionally prevent or disrupt access to or dissemination of information online, in violation of international human rights law,

Stressing the  importance  of  applying  a  comprehensive  human  rights-based approach when providing and expanding access to the Internet and for the Internet to be open, accessible and nurtured by multi-stakeholder participation,

Taking note with appreciation of the reports of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion  and  protection  of  the  right  to  freedom  of  opinion  and  expression, submitted to the Human Rights Council at its seventeenth, twenty-third, twenty-ninth and thirty-second sessions, 2 and to the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session, on freedom of expression on the Internet, 3 and taking note of the report of the Special Rapporteur  on  the  right  to  privacy,  submitted  to  the  Human  Rights  Council  at  its thirty-first session, 4

Considering the key importance of government engagement with all relevant stakeholders,  including  civil  society,  private  sector,  the  technical  community  and academia,  in  promoting  and  protecting  human  rights  and  fundamental  freedoms online,

1. Affirms that  the  same  rights  that  people  have  offline  must  also  be protected online, in particular freedom of expression, which is applicable regardless of frontiers and through any media of one's choice, in accordance with articles 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

2. Recognizes the global and open nature of the Internet as a driving force in  accelerating  progress  towards  development  in  its  various  forms,  including  in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals;

3. Calls upon all states to promote and facilitate international cooperation aimed at the development of media and information and communication facilities and technologies in all countries;

4. Affirms that quality education plays a decisive role in development, and therefore calls upon all States to promote digital literacy  and to facilitate access to information  on  the  Internet,  which  can  be  an  important  tool  in  facilitating  the promotion of the right to education;

5. Affirms also the importance of applying a comprehensive human rightsbased  approach  in  providing  and  in  expanding  access  to  Internet  and  requests  all States to make efforts to bridge the many forms of digital divides;

6. Calls upon all States to bridge the gender digital divide and enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of all women and girls;

7. Encourages all States to take appropriate measures to promote, with the participation  of  persons  with  disabilities,  the  design,  development,  production  and distribution of information and communications technologies and systems, including assistive and adaptive technologies, that are accessible to persons with disabilities;

8. Calls  upon all  States  to  address  security  concerns  on  the  Internet  in accordance with their international human rights obligations to ensure protection of freedom  of  expression,  freedom  of  association,  privacy  and  other  human  rights online, including through national democratic, transparent institutions, based on the rule of law, in a way that ensures freedom and security on the Internet so that it can continue to be a vibrant force that generates economic, social and cultural development;

9. Condemns unequivocally all human rights violations and abuses, such as torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention, expulsion, intimidation and harassment, as well as gender based violence, committed

2 A/HRC/17/27, A/HRC/23/40 and Corr.1, A/HRC/29/32 and A/HRC/32/38.

3 A/66/290.

4 A/HRC/31/64.

against persons for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms on the Internet, and calls on all States to ensure accountability in this regard;

10. Condemns  unequivocally 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 such measures;
11. Stresses the importance of combating advocacy of hatred that constitutes incitement  to  discrimination  or  violence  on  the  Internet,  including  by  promoting tolerance and dialogue;
12. Calls  upon all  States  to  consider  formulating,  through  transparent  and inclusive  processes  with  all  stakeholders,  and  adopting  national  Internet-related public policies that have the objective of universal access and enjoyment of human rights at their core;

13. Requests the High Commissioner to prepare a report on ways to bridge the gender digital divide from a human rights perspective, in consultation with States, the  special  procedures  of  the  Human  Rights  Council,  international  organizations, national  human rights  institutions,  civil  society,  industry,  technical  community  and academia and other stakeholders, and to submit it to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-fifth session;

14. Encourages the  special  procedures  to  take  these  issues  into  account within their existing mandates, as applicable;

15. Decides to  continue  its  consideration  of  the  promotion,  protection  and enjoyment  of  human  rights,  including  the  right  to  freedom  of  expression,  on  the Internet and other information and communication technology, as well as of how the Internet can be an important tool for fostering citizen and civil society participation, for  the  realization  of  development  in  every  community  and  for  exercising  human rights, in accordance with its programme of work.

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