NEW YORK (21 October 2019) – In a landmark report that reinforces legal standards to combat online hate, the UN’s
monitor for freedom of expression calls on governments and companies to move away from standardless policies and
inconsistent enforcement, and to align their laws and practices against ‘hate speech’ with international human rights
law.
“The prevalence of online hate poses challenges to everyone, first and foremost the marginalised individuals who are its
principal targets,” said David Kaye, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, in the report to be
presented to the UN General Assembly today. “Unfortunately, States and companies are failing to prevent ‘hate speech’
from becoming the next ‘fake news’, an ambiguous and politicised term subject to governmental abuse and company
discretion.
“Online hate is no less harmful because it is online,” the Special Rapporteur said. “To the contrary, online hate, with
the speed and reach of its dissemination, can incite grave offline harm and nearly always aims to silence others. The
question is not whether to address such abuse. It is how to do so in a way that respects the rights everyone enjoys.”
In the report, Kaye urges that States meet their obligations by turning to key human rights treaties and the leading
interpretations of human rights law by the Human Rights Committee and the 2013 Rabat Plan of Action. He expresses
particular concern about governments that use ‘hate speech’ to restrict legitimate expression under the guise of
‘blasphemy’ or fail to define and enforce ‘hate speech’ rules according to human rights law’s rigorous standards of
legality, necessity and proportionality, and legitimacy.
“Governments and the public have legitimate concerns about online hate,” the Special Rapporteur added, “but new laws
that impose liability on companies are failing basic standards, increasing the power of those same private actors over
public norms, and risk undermining free expression and public accountability.
“Companies likewise are not taking seriously their responsibilities to respect human rights,” he said. “It is on their
platforms where hateful content spreads, spurred on by a business model and algorithmic tools that value attention and
virality. They have massive impact on human rights and yet all fail to articulate policies rooted in human rights law,
as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights call upon them to do.”
Kaye’s report provides companies with a roadmap for tackling online hate according to basic principles of human rights
law. It especially highlights the absence of human rights impact assessments at all stages of product development, the
vagueness of company rules, and the lack of transparency of company processes.
“The human rights community has had a long-term conversation with social media and other companies in the Internet
economy,” the Special Rapporteur said, “and yet the companies remain stubbornly committed to policies that fail to
articulate their actions according to basic norms of human rights law, from freedom of expression and privacy to
prohibitions of discrimination, incitement to violence, and promotion of public participation.
“The companies’ failure to recognise their power and impact, and to value shareholders over public interest, must end
immediately,” Kaye said. “This report gives the companies the tools to change course.”
An advance version of the report is available at the mandate’s website here. A livestream of the presentation will be accessible at http://webtv.un.org/ starting at 3 p.m. EST today.