A/HRC/50/56 promise of digital technologies for transformational change for the benefit of humanity can only be realized when effectively guarding against the risk of harm to people.8 7. While some important efforts have been made, Government responses to the challenges posed by digital technologies have tended to be reactive and ad hoc, at times overlooking existing corporate responsibility and accountability frameworks and standards that can provide principled and rights-based responses. Some technology companies and investors are engaged, and actively calling for more clarity and guidance, while much of the sector has not engaged on the human rights risks arising from their activities. 8. The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are the authoritative global standard for preventing and addressing human rights harms connected to business activity, including in the technology sector. Their authority and legitimacy stems from having been unanimously endorsed by the Human Rights Council in 2011, with the express support of a diverse set of stakeholders, including from the private sector. 9. The Guiding Principles set out the distinct but complementary role of States and companies in preventing and addressing human rights harms associated with business activity. They are comprised of three separate but mutually reinforcing pillars: (a) Pillar I. The State duty to protect against human rights abuses by third parties, including businesses, through appropriate policies, regulation and adjudication; (b) Pillar II. The corporate responsibility to respect human rights, by not infringing on the rights of others, and to address adverse impacts on human rights related to their activities; (c) Pillar III. Access to remedy for victims of corporate-related human rights abuse through judicial or non-judicial mechanisms. 10. For States and companies seeking to effectively manage risks to people connected to the digital economy, the Guiding Principles offer a principled and pragmatic framework that can be applied globally and allows the positive impact and opportunities of technological innovation to flourish in a rights-respecting ecosystem.9 Echoing this, the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises (Working Group on business and human rights),10 taking stock of the first decade of the implementation of the Guiding Principles, stressed that they provided a compelling starting point for companies and States seeking to address the potential harms of digital technologies by effectively managing associated risks to people, as they precisely sought to manage the gap between rapid change and the capacity of society to manage its consequences. 11 11. There have been repeated calls for greater guidance on and uptake of the Guiding Principles in relation to the technology sector. In 2020, the High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation identified a critical need for clearer guidance about what should be expected from private companies with regard to human rights as they developed and deployed digital technologies.12 In “the highest aspiration: a call to action for human rights”, the SecretaryGeneral called on the international community to work with business to apply the Guiding Principles, and specifically with social media companies to understand and respond to concerns about existing or potential human rights violations, including by working with civil society and human rights defenders to prevent or quickly redress such violations. 12. Against this backdrop, OHCHR launched the B-Tech Project with a view to advancing the uptake of the Guiding Principles by both States and technology companies. Using the lens of the Guiding Principles, the B-Tech Project seeks to provide normative clarity and practical guidance on the respective roles and responsibilities of States and technology 8 9 10 11 12 See https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/Human-Rights-Council-AdvisoryCommittee.pdf. See https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Business/B-Tech/introduction-ungpage-technology.pdf. See https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/wg-business. See https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2021-12/ungps10plusroadmap.pdf. See https://www.un.org/en/pdfs/DigitalCooperation-report-for%20web.pdf. 3