A/69/286 of women, children, minorities and indigenous peoples, the right to food, health, education and leisure, the right to take part in cultural life and the right to artistic freedom, as set out in the various regional and international human rights instruments, deserve particular attention in this respect. As underlined by the Human Rights Committee, it may also be permissible in certain circumstances to regulate speech-making in a particular public place. 100. The freedom of thought and opinion, which lies at the heart of human rights, including cultural rights, deserves a particular mention. Although people have their own agency and critical resistance, and while trying to convince someone is not an encroachment on the right to freedom of thought and opinion, and in fact supports democratic debate, the Special Rapporteur is of the view that the increasingly blurred line between commercial advertising and other content, the myriad advertisements and marketing communications people receive daily, the dissemination of such communications through a large variety of media used in a systematic and integrated way and the resort to neuromarketing aimed at circumventing individual rational decision-making raise serious concern. 101. Many States have adopted laws, but commercial advertising and marketing remains mostly self-regulated. This situation is unsatisfactory, leading to poor overall implementation, gaps, inconsistencies and legal uncertainty for both the industry and the public, as well as a paucity of clear, transparent and efficient complaint mechanisms. 102. The Special Rapporteur recommends a number of steps to be adopted within the framework of article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights relating to the right to freedom of expression. Such action is recommended in relation to commercial advertising and marketing only, which, aiming to sell particular services and/or products rather than to express a particular viewpoint or participate in debates of general interest, may be granted a lesser level of protection. 103. The Special Rapporteur recommends in particular that: (a) States adopt legislation on commercial advertising and marketing that regroups dispersed codes of ethics and clearly refers to the obligation to respect and protect human rights, in particular the right to freedom of thought, opinion and expression, the right to privacy and family life, the rights of women, children, minorities and indigenous peoples, the right to health, food, education and leisure, the right to take part in cultural life and the right to artistic freedom; (b) Local authorities, in particular municipalities, adopt regulations in their spheres of competency regarding commercial advertising, with reference to human rights standards as mentioned in subparagraph (a) above; (c) Companies adopt self-regulatory codes, in compliance with human rights standards, establishing a global responsible marketing and advertising policy and prohibiting harmful and unethical advertising, in particular to children; (d) States, local authorities and bodies responsible for overseeing the implementation of self-regulated codes provide clear, simple and easily 22/26 14-58963