18 April 2024

Mr. Durov,

We have the honour to address you in our capacities as Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises; Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; Special Rapporteur on minority issues; Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967; Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy; and Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 53/3, 52/9, 50/17, 53/12, 52/5, 1993/2A, 46/16 and 49/10...

...In this connection, we would like to bring to your attention information we have received concerning a number of alleged human rights violations in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory since 7 October 2023, including increased criminalization, surveillance, harassment, and attacks against individuals who are peacefully expressing dissent or advocating for Palestinian rights on social media. The proliferation of hate speech, incitement to violence, disinformation, and bias, as well as the systematic censorship of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian human rights voices and content, are allegedly also on the rise on social media platforms including Meta, X, Google (headquartered in the United States of America), and Telegram (headquartered in the United Arab Emirates).

A letter was sent expressing related concerns to Telegram on 9 March 2023 (OTH 12/2023). We regret that in that instance, we did not receive a response from your company...

...Without prejudging the accuracy of these allegations, we express our deep concern that such actions directly threaten the right to life. The six months of conflict since 7 October 2023, now plausibly amounting to a real and imminent risk of genocide according to the International Court of Justice, have placed a spotlight on the role and obligations of technology companies, particularly social media platforms, in situations of armed conflicts...

...As it is our responsibility, under the mandates provided to us by the Human Rights Council, to seek to clarify all cases brought to our attention, we would be grateful for your observations on the following matters:

1. Please provide any additional information and/or comment(s) you may have on the above-mentioned allegations.
2. Please provide information on the number of accounts and amount of content that have been restricted in relation to the events since 7 October 2023, the reasons thereof, and the remedy measures in place. Please also provide information about accounts and content which were eventually reinstated.
3. Please provide detailed information as to the measures, including human rights due diligence, that your company has taken in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for adverse human rights impacts caused by your company’s products and services, or to which they may have contributed or be directly linked.
4. Please provide information on your company’s efforts, if any, to ensure transparent communication on human rights issues, including the responsibility to conduct heightened human rights due diligence processes in conflict-affected contexts (see Working Group on business and human rights report A/75/212). Please indicate whether you take any specific steps when the situation is plausibly amounting to a real and imminent risk of genocide.
5. Please indicate how you conduct stakeholder engagement, both in general and specifically in conflict-affected contexts, to mitigate the lack of information, the polarization, and the high level of mistrust which usually exist among groups and communities (see Working Group on business and human rights report A/75/212). Please indicate whether you take any specific steps when the situation is plausibly amounting to a real and imminent risk of genocide...

....We would appreciate receiving a response within 60 days. Past this delay, this communication and any response received from you will be made public via the communications reporting website. They will also subsequently be made available in the usual report to be presented to the Human Rights Council...