The free, unhindered development of one’s personality depends, amongst other things, on the ability of the individual to exercise a number of different fundamental rights, which may broadly be organised into two major categories. First, there are those human rights that are somehow related to the flows of information in society. Second, those which are not directly related to information flows but which may somehow facilitate them and/or other facets of personality development.
In March 2017, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) took an historic step. In what was apparently the first time in its history – and possibly that of the UN – it articulated an explicit link between the information-related fundamental rights of privacy and freedom of expression with the over-arching right to free, unhindered development of personality. In its resolution A/HRC/34/L.7/Rev.1 it recognises “the right to privacy also as an enabling right to the free development of personality and, in this regard, noting with concern that any violation to the right to privacy might affect other human rights, including the right to freedom of expression and to hold opinions without interference, the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association”
- : http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0025/002589/258993E.pdf
- : Sherri Hope Culver, Center for Media and Information Literacy, Temple University, USA & Alton Grizzle, UNESCO
- : UNESCO