Curtailing Free Expression, Opinion and Information Online in Southeast Asia operation of information dissemination systems must conform with the test for restrictions on freedom of expression. At the same time, the fact that people can communicate online should not be used as a ground for undue restrictions on in-person assemblies.”88 It thereafter clarifies how the rights to assembly and association intertwine with others protected under the ICCPR in the context of surveillance or data monitoring: “The mere fact that participants in assemblies are out in public does not mean that their privacy cannot be infringed, for example, by facial recognition and other technologies that can identify individual participants in mass assemblies. The same applies to the monitoring of social media. Independent scrutiny and oversight must be exercised over the collection of personal information and data of those engaged in peaceful assemblies. … The surveillance of those involved in assemblies and other data-gathering may violate their privacy (art. 17). Freedom of assembly is more than a manifestation of freedom of expression (art. 19 (2)), but it has an expressive element and the rationale for the recognition of these two rights and the acceptable limitations overlap in many ways. Freedom of information (art. 19 (2)) underlies the ability of participants to know about the legal and administrative framework within which they participate in assemblies and enables the public to hold government officials accountable. Freedom of association (art. 22) also protects collective action, and restrictions on this right often affect freedom of assembly. Like freedom of expression, the right of political participation (art. 25) is closely linked to peaceful assembly. The right to non-discrimination protects participants against discriminatory practices in the context of assemblies (art. 26).”89 Human rights defenders Human rights defenders use online platforms to exercise and to promote the rights to association, assembly and political participation, and other rights. Many human rights defenders face harassment, intimidation, threats to personal security and other attacks by State or non-State actors, which now extend to the online sphere. Human rights defenders face more contemporary threats such as infringements of their digital security, privacy and dignity from online attacks and smear campaigns, which often also 88 89 Draft GC No. 37, para 38. Draft GC No. 37, paras 72, 112. 33