Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, A/HRC/14/23/Add.2, 25 March 2010

ANNEX: TENTH ANNIVERSARY JOINT DECLARATION: TEN KEY CHALLENGES TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN THE NEXT DECADE

5. Discrimination in the enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression

Equal enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression remains elusive and historically disadvantaged groups — including women, minorities, refugees, indigenous peoples and sexual minorities — continue to struggle to have their voices heard and to access information of relevance to them. We are particularly concerned about:

1. Obstacles to the establishment of media by and for historically disadvantaged groups;
2. The misuse of hate speech laws to prevent historically disadvantaged groups from engaging in legitimate debate about their problems and concerns;
3. The lack of adequate self-regulatory measures to address:

1. Underrepresentation of historically disadvantaged groups among mainstream media workers, including in the public media;
2. Inadequate coverage by the media and others of issues of relevance to historically disadvantaged groups;
3. The prevalence of stereotypical or derogatory information about historically disadvantaged groups being disseminated in society.

Link to full text of the report: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/14session/A.HRC.14.23.Add.2_en.pdf