UN HRC42: action to protect privacy and address artificial intelligence among key priorities - ARTICLE 19

On 9 September 2019, the UN Human Rights Council begins its 42nd Session in Geneva (HRC42). Over 3 weeks, major human rights issues will be debated and acted on, with significant implications for the protection of freedom of expression and right to information globally. The UN Human Rights Council, with its 47 Member States, is an essential forum for the protection of freedom of expression, in particular for the rights of journalists, human rights defenders, and minorities and groups facing discrimination. As stakeholders prepare for HRC42, the UN's Human Rights Chief, Michelle Bachelet, has set out a series of thematic priorities for States to act upon, including to reverse shrinking civic space for protesters and dissenters, to push back against heavy censorship of the Internet and attacks on digital rights, and to end killings of human rights defenders, journalists, and trade unionists. As attacks on the multilateral system intensify, with autocrats even resorting to thuggish and personal jibes at Bachelet herself, it is crucial that rights-respecting States demonstrate that the Council can still deliver strong outcomes for freedom of expression.