UN landmark affirmation states its charter applies to social media and the digital world
The United Nations Group of Governmental Experts on developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security has issued a report confirming that UN law, in particular the UN Charter which governs international relations and individual rights, applies to states and their use of ‘communications technologies’.
The UN has affirmed its charter applies in the digital world
It is the first time the UN has affirmed that international law applies to social media, and area currently fraught with legal uncertainties and conflicting interpretations of the applicability of the civil and criminal law.
The UN group consisted of fifteen experts nominated by the Governments of Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Canada, China, Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States.
It was chaired by Australian High Commissioner Deborah Stokes.
The UN group’s remit was to study existing and potential threats in the sphere of information security and how nations could cooperate to overcome them.
“Progress in international security in the use of ICTs by States will be iterative, with each step building on the last,” the report concludes.
“A technological environment shaped by change and a steady increase in the number of new ICT users make this iterative approach necessary. The present report contains recommendations that build on previous work. Their implementation and refinement will help increase confidence among all
stakeholders.
“The Group recommends that Member States give active consideration to the report and assess how they might take up these recommendations for further development and implementation.”