Statement of the Deputy Permanent Representative of Greece, Dr Iakovos Iakovidis, during the Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and

Statement of the Deputy Permanent Representative of Greece, Dr Iakovos Iakovidis, during the Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and expression, Ms Irene Khan (HRC 47th Session)

Thank you Madam Chair,

Greece aligns itself with the EU statement.

We would like to thank the Special Rapporteur for her important work throughout this challenging year and congratulate her for her first report to the Council.

Your report eloquently demonstrates the threats associated with the viral distribution of disinformation to the freedom of opinion and expression, democracy, development processes and institutions. During the pandemic, disinformation has overwhelmed the digital environment affecting people’s trust in public information and State institutions, endangering the rights to health and life and eventually posing a severe public threat.

Greece is particularly concerned by the trend of tightening restrictions on freedom of opinion and expression and calls for States compliance with their human rights obligations, including the impact of interference with free speech.

As you pointed out in your report, States have the obligation to respect, protect and uphold human rights and thus they should not support the spread of disinformation by any means. Furthermore, companies should comply with their responsibility to respect international human rights standards by ensuring that their data processing activities do not violate them.

Madam Rapporteur,

while the #MeToo movement continues to spread around the world and survivors’ stories of sexualized violence hit the front page, how States and companies can better address the issue of gender disinformation online?

I thank you.