Internet connectivity and use of forms of social media have become increasingly central to many aspects of organising and exercising the right to freedom of peaceful assembly over the past decade. Over the same period, international bodies have regularly acknowledged the prominent role of the internet and the need to recognise that many of our core fundamental human rights apply online as well as in the physical world.
This paper, written by Neil Jarman, provides an overview of current thinking around freedom of assembly in the online space. It aims to support developing a broader understanding of how assembly organisers, civil society groups and networks are using the online world as part of their activism, and how both state and private sector actors are responding to such developments.