United Nations
A/RES/56/121
General Assembly
Distr.: General
23 January 2002
Fifty-sixth session
Agenda item 110
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly
[on the report of the Third Committee (A/56/574)]
56/121. Combating the criminal misuse of information
technologies
The General Assembly,
Recalling the United Nations Millennium Declaration, 1 in which Member
States resolved to ensure that the benefits of new technologies, especially
information and communications technologies, in conformity with the
recommendations contained in the ministerial declaration of the high-level segment
of the substantive session of 2000 of the Economic and Social Council, 2 are
available to all, and its resolution 55/63 of 4 December 2000, in which it invited
Member States to take into account measures to combat the criminal misuse of
information technologies,
Recognizing that the free flow of information can promote economic and
social development, education and democratic governance,
Noting the significant advancements in the development and application of
information technologies and means of telecommunication,
Expressing concern that technological advancements have created new
possibilities for criminal activity, in particular the criminal misuse of information
technologies,
Noting that reliance on information technologies, while it may vary from State
to State, has resulted in a substantial increase in global cooperation and
coordination, with the result that the criminal misuse of information technologies
may have a grave impact on all States,
Recognizing that gaps in the access to and use of information technologies by
States can diminish the effectiveness of international cooperation in combating the
criminal misuse of information technologies, and recognizing also the need to
facilitate the transfer of information technologies, in particular to developing
countries,
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1
See resolution 55/2.
See Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-fifth Session, Supplement No. 3 (A/55/3/Rev.1),
chap. III, para. 17.
2
01 48204