Principle
The rights of all people, without discrimination of any kind, to use the Internet as a vehicle for the exercise and enjoyment of their human rights, and for participation in social and cultural life, should be respected and protected.
Application
States and non-state actors shall respect and protect the right of all individuals to have access to and use the Internet. Special attention should be paid to the needs of groups at risk of discrimination in the enjoyment of their human rights, including women, the elderly, young people and children; minorities, including ethnic, linguistic, sexual and religious minorities; and other marginalised groups such as indigenous people, persons with disabilities, and rural communities/people living in rural areas.
Related resources
This report emerges from research carried out in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between November 2013 and April 2014 by Si Jeunesse Savait and the Association for Progressive Communications (APC). Mobile phones had been the most frequently involved platform in the cases of technology-related VAW explored by the local research team.
Human Rights groups and organisations responded to internet shutdown in Uganda during national elections through a joint letter to the African Union, Ugandan Government and other important parastatal institutions. The letter expressed the through the shutting down of the internet, human rights violations were committed.
This is the sixth in a series of mini editions highlighting the “End violence: Women’s rights and safety online” project. Each edition focuses on one country in which the research was conducted, and brings together major findings, and interviews with the research teams.