100 Hate Speech Ignited: Understanding Hate Speech in Myanmar The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights The 2011 UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights outline responsibilities of business- es relating to the protection of human rights across three pillars.692 While these principles were not meant to create new legal obligations, they reflect a “global standard of expected conduct for all business enterprises wherever they operate.”693 The first pillar outlines the state’s duty to “protect against human rights abuse within their territory and/or jurisdiction by third parties, including business enterprises.”694 They can and are able to use policies, legislation, regulations and adjudication to prevent, investigate, punish and provide remedies.695 The Guiding Principles’ second pillar highlights the responsibility of businesses to respect hu- man rights, which “means that they should avoid infringing on the human rights of others and should address adverse human rights impacts with which they are involved.”696 The Guiding Principles elaborate further that such corporate responsibility requires businesses to (1) “avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts through their own activities, and address such impacts when they occur”, and (2) “seek to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly linked to their operations, products, or services by their business relationships, even if they have not contributed to those impacts.”697 In addition to the Guiding Principles, a number of other international documents—such as the International Labour Organization Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy,698 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises,699 and the UN Global Compact—also reflect how corporations should respect and abide by existing international human rights law.700 The Guiding Principles stress that corporate responsibility extends to all businesses regardless of their “size, sector, operational context, ownership and structure.”701 Businesses should undertake due diligence;702 express commitment to respect human rights through policy development that is clearly communicated to all personnel and partners;703 involve affected communities and stakeholders through “meaningful consultation;”704 assess “actual and potential” human rights impacts and respond to findings regarding impacts;705 track the effectiveness of these responses;706 and formally 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 Ibid. Ibid., para. 11. Ibid., para. 6. Ibid., para. 1. Ibid., principle 11. Ibid., principle 13. See International Labor Organization [ILO], Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (5th ed. 2017), para. 8: “[All parties] should respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the corresponding International Covenants (1966) adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations.” See Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development [OCD], OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2008), General Policies II.2 (indicating that multinational enterprises should “Respect the human rights of those affected by their activities consistent with the host government’s international obligations and commitments.”). See United Nations, The Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact, principles 1-2 (outlining that “Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and [...] make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.”) Guiding Principles, principle 14. Ibid., principles 4, 5, 18. Ibid., principle 16. Ibid., principle 18. Ibid., principle 17. Ibid., principle 20.