A/74/120 While offensive cyberoperations are currently carried out in tandem with conventional military operations, the possibility of an armed conflict consisting exclusively of digital activities cannot be excluded in principle, as it is based on the potential for cyberoperations to reach the threshold of violence required to qualify as an international or non-international armed conflict. Despite their non-material nature, such operations remain subject to the geographic scope of application of international humanitarian law; in other words, their effects are confined to the territories of the States parties to an international armed conflict or, in the context of a non-international armed conflict, to the territory where hostilities are taking place. Offensive cyberwarfare operations undertaken by the French armed forces must comply with the following principles of international humanitarian law: • The principle of distinction between civilian assets and military targets . Cyberattacks not directed at a specific military target or carried out by means of cyberweapons that cannot be directed at a specific military target are prohibited. Certain data, although intangible, may constitute civilian assets protected under international humanitarian law. • The principle of humanity. The civilian population in general and individual civilians must not be targeted unless they participate directly in hostilities, and except during that participation. In an armed conflict, any cybercombatant who is a member of the armed forces, any member of an organized armed group engaged in cyberattacks against another party or any civilians directly participating in hostilities through electronic means may be the target of a conventional attack or a cyberattack. • The principle of proportionality. Constant vigilance must be exercised in order to protect persons and civilian assets from the effects of hostilities during such operations. Collateral damage must be commensurate with the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated. The principle of proportionality in cyberspace requires that all foreseeable effects of the weapo n be taken into consideration, whether those effects are direct (such as damage to the targeted system or interruption of service) or indirect (such as impact on the infrastructure controlled by the system under attack, as well as on persons affected by the malfunctioning or destruction of systems or the alteration and corruption of data), provided that those effects have a sufficient causal link with the attack. This principle also prohibits the use of cyberweapons that are uncontrollable (in time or in space) and could therefore cause irreversib le damage to civilian infrastructure, systems or data. The above principles are contained in the public elements of French milit ary doctrine on offensive computer warfare, published in early 2019. Human Rights France supports the principles that the rights people enjoy offline must also be protected online and that international human rights law applies to cyberspace. Those values are especially challenged by the online spread of illegal materials, such as those promoting terrorism, hate and anti-Semitism. It is particularly important to involve private digital actors in the fight against illegal content and to clarify their role and responsibilities at the international level to combat illegal content and prot ect human rights and fundamental freedoms online. 19-10580 23/39