The United Nations Human Rights Council has passed a new resolution last Friday that formally condems countries that block or limit citzens’ access to the internet.
This particular resolution was passed by consensus and “condems 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 measure.” Apart from the condemnation, the resolution all calls for governments across the world to improve internet access across gender and disabilities.
An important thing to note, is that this particular resolution carries no legal weight, and as such, governments are not obliged to follow it. Some of the bigger countries that practice the restriction of internet access includes Turkey and China, but they aren’t the only ones doing so. First world countries aren’t exactly innocent of this either as the French government considered blocking internet access following the Paris Terror attacks.
Source: Think Progress, The Hill