Switzerland asks HRC to circulate Glion recommendations
Geneva, 8 October 2026 – The Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations Office and other international organisations in Geneva sent a note verbale to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The note requests that the annex be circulated as an official document of the sixty‑fourth session of the Human Rights Council (22 February – 2 April 2027), under agenda item 3 ‘Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development’. The annex, identified as A/HRC/64/G/1, is titled ‘The Glion Recommendations on Implementing the Rabat Plan of Action in the Digital Age’. The English version of the submission is stated to be the original and authoritative version; the accompanying French, Arabic and Spanish texts are described as unofficial translations.
The Glion Recommendations were drafted after an expert workshop held in Glion, Switzerland, in April 2026. The workshop was organised by the Directorate of International Law of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, the non‑governmental organisation ARTICLE 19 and the OHCHR. Participants included representatives of governments, international organisations, technology companies, civil‑society groups and academia.
The document observes that the digital age – characterised by the rapid expansion of social media, recommender systems, ranking mechanisms, advertising models and artificial‑intelligence tools – has fundamentally altered the scale, speed and reach of expression and its impact. It therefore proposes a multi‑stakeholder, human‑rights‑based approach to online incitement and offers non‑binding recommendations to a wide range of actors.
Key recommendations to states call for the adoption or strengthening of legislative and other measures that prohibit advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement under article 20 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Any restriction on expression must comply with article 19 (3) of the ICCPR. States are urged to review existing legislation, including the repeal of blasphemy laws, to ensure conformity with international human rights law, and to protect anonymity and end‑to‑end encryption.
Recommendations to technology companies include conducting ongoing human‑rights due diligence, adopting content‑policy frameworks consistent with the Rabat Plan of Action, ensuring transparency of algorithms and recommender systems, providing users with choices over content curation, and guaranteeing human review of automated moderation decisions. Companies are also advised to mitigate risks arising from advertising and monetisation models, to engage with affected stakeholders, and to respect the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
The document advises United Nations bodies and other regional organisations to conduct broad public consultation on regulating online incitement, to improve coordination among human‑rights mechanisms, and to support the International Day on Countering Hate Speech on 18 June. Civil‑society recommendations focus on research, data collection, awareness‑raising, counter‑speech initiatives, training on the Rabat Plan of Action and the promotion of media and digital literacy.
The source records no responses or alternative positions to the Glion Recommendations. The submission is relevant to digital governance because it links the Rabat Plan of Action’s six‑part threshold test for incitement to contemporary digital platforms, highlights the human‑rights responsibilities of technology companies, and proposes regulatory and policy measures aimed at addressing online hate speech and incitement in the digital age.
Source: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/expression/a-hrc-64-g-1-eng.pdf
