Human Rights in the Digital Age
The author of this blog is Mr. Archit Vyas, 2nd Year student at GNLU Gandhinagar.
Our
digitally connected world poses serious challenges to human rights. Mobile
connectivity and internet use, low-cost and fast computing systems, and rapid
AI advances have, on one hand, provided new opportunities. But, on the other
hand, they present unique challenges to the protection of core human rights.Budding
technologies like Al have a massive potential to divide societies, violate
privacy and provoke prejudice, extremism, racism, hatred, and violence across
the globe in a short span of time. Breaches of data safety protocols and social
media campaigns can create opportunities for blackmail and influence political
processes. Defenders of human rights and democracy need to discourse these
challenges as a priority.
Focusing on human rights in the digital age is
key. Data collection has already begun on an industrial scale. States,
political parties, various organizations, and, in particular, businesses hold
remarkably detailed and powerful information about us. More and more aspects of
our lives are being digitally tracked, stored, used – and misused.[1]Digital technology already brings many benefits.
Its value for human rights and development is huge. We can connect and
communicate around the globe as never before. We can empower, inform, and
investigate. We can use encrypted communications, satellite imagery, and data
streams to directly defend and promote human rights. We can even use artificial
intelligence to predict and eradicate human rights violations.There
is an urgent need to scrutinize the international treaties and conventions that
codify human rights to provide strong policy guidelines regarding international
cooperation for the protection of human rights in the digital age.
International
courts, tribunals, and national courts, for example, should interpret
international human rights conventions and national fundamental rights laws to simplify the duty of care, refine the right to privacy, and freedom of speech, religious
freedom, and association in the digital context. The vulnerability of women and
children need instant attention. Women experience a higher level of online
harassment than men. Children are more exposed to online persecution and sexual
exploitation than adults. So, privacy protection rules should be made specifically
for women and children. There should be detailed design and data consent
standards for online services. The Age Appropriate Design Code announced by the
UK in 2019 and American Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule of 2013, for
example, prescribe such standards for digital services.Nonetheless, we cannot ignore the dark side, the
digital revolution is a major global human rights issue. Its unquestionable
benefits do not cancel out its unmistakable risks. We should not feel overwhelmed by the scale or pace of
digital development and do need to understand the risks associated with it.
A lot of our attention is rightly focused on challenges to freedom of expression
online and inciting hatred and violence. Online harassment, trolling campaigns
and intimidation have polluted parts of the internet and pose very real
off-line threats, with a disproportionate impact on women. In the most deadly
case, social media posts targeted the Rohingya community in Myanmar in the
run-up to the mass killings and rapes in 2017. Human rights investigators found
that Facebook – and its algorithmically driven news feed – had helped spread
hate speech
and
incited violence.[2]
These grave violations of human rights leave no room for
doubt. Threats, intimidation, and cyber-bullying on the internet lead to real
world targeting, harassment, violence and murder, even to alleged genocide and
ethnic cleansing. Failure to take action will result in further shrinking of
civic space, decreased participation, enhanced discrimination, and a continuing
risk of lethal consequences – in particular for women, minorities, and migrants,
for anyone seen as “other”. But over-reaction by
regulators to rein in speech and use of the online space is also a critical
human rights issue. Dozens of countries are limiting what people can access, curbing
free speech and political activity, often under the pretense of fighting hate
or extremism. Internet shutdowns seem to have become a common tool to stifle
legitimate debate, dissent, and protests. The NGO Access Now counted 196
shutdowns in 25 states in 2018, almost three times the number (75) as per the statistics recorded in 2016.
Some States are deliberately tarnishing the reputations of human rights defenders and civil society groups by posting false information about them or orchestrating harassment campaigns. Others are using digital surveillance tools to track down and target rights defenders and other people perceived as critics. Digital technologies have put privacy at risk. AI has enormously improved the possibility of electronic surveillance and interception. Thus, authentic national security and business interests need to be balanced against a basic right to privacy. How can the latter be ensured without undermining the former? International agencies like the United Nations should help state parties negotiate and enforce data-protection treaties and laws to ensure that governments, non-state actors, and companies cannot misuse the personal information of their citizens.
Reportedly,
the 2016 US presidential election and Brexit were shaped by spiteful use of
digital technology. It is completely possible that powerful countries and
multinational corporations will employ AI to raid the economy of the
under-developed countries and weaken their national security. In view of the
increasing misappropriation of digital technology in economic and political
affairs, the developing countries, in particular, need to raise a voice at
regional and international forums for an effective mechanism of collaboration
and safety of the developing world.[3
The
UN, state governments, social media networks, and private businesses must guarantee
that digital technology is working for the welfare of humanity in a transparent
and accountable manner. AI systems must follow stringent ethical standards. It
is becoming evident that AI can be used to create discrimination as prejudices
can be fed into algorithms to produce a specific pattern or result. For
example, artificial Intelligence can be misused to decide who is eligible
for a particular job or permitted for a pertinent public service such as
housing loans or healthcare. Therefore, there are constant global efforts to
make AI developers subject to the law and ethical values.[4]
Those
who progress and employ Al for political or business or war purposes must be
held responsible for their actions. People are legally responsible for their
actions under all legal systems. So, those who design, develop, adapt or deploy
AI must also be held answerable for the consequences of their decisions. The legal
responsibility of these actions becomes more critical when lethal autonomous
weapons systems are used in striking violation of international human rights
and humanitarian law. The UN secretary-general emphasized in 2018 that
“machines with the power and will to take lives without human involvement are
politically unacceptable, morally objectionable and should be prohibited by
international law”.As
we live in an age of digital interconnectedness, governments, human rights
defenders, citizens, and AI companies should work together to boost digital
cooperation for the protection of human rights. Common human values like
equality before law, dignity, privacy, freedom, inclusiveness, respect, and
sustainability should be preserved. These human values must serve as a guiding
light to our conduct in the digital age.[5]
So while our
notions of privacy are developing along with social media and data-capturing
technology, we also need to identify that it’s not “just privacy” that is
affected by the digitization of everything. The exercise of all fundamental
freedoms is diluted when governments utilize new capacities that flow from
digitization without regard for human rights. Furthermore, by engaging in
tactics that weaken digital security for individuals, for networks, and for
data, governments trigger and further inspire a hackers race to the bottom.
Practices that weaken digital security will be learned and followed by other
governments and non-state actors, and ultimately undermine security for
critical infrastructure, as well as individuals users everywhere. Defending and
improving digital security for individuals, for data, for networks, and for
critical infrastructure must be seen as a priority for national and global
security.
There is already an urgent need for governments,
social media platforms and other businesses to protect the fundamental pillars
of a democratic society, rule of law, and the full range of our rights online: a
need for oversight, accountability, and responsibility. As the digital frontiers
expand, one of our greatest challenges as a human rights community will be to
help companies and societies to implement the international human rights
framework in the land we have not yet reached. This includes clear guidance on the responsibilities of business as well as the obligations of states.
At its best, the digital revolution will empower,
connect, inform, and save lives. At its worst, it will disempower, disconnect,
misinform, and cost lives.
[1] Robin Blom. Naming Crime Suspects
in the News. Media Law, Ethics, and Policy in the Digital Age, pages 207-225.
[2] , , .
(2018) Social control and the institutionalization of human rights as an
ethical framework for media and ICT corporations. Journal
of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society 16:3, pages
275-289.
[4] .
(2015) The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Applying Rawlsian
Ethics in Data Mining Marketing. Journal of Media Ethics 30:1, pages 19-30.
[5] Corinne
Cath. 2019. Internet Governance and Human Rights: A Literature Review. The 2018
Yearbook of the Digital Ethics Lab, pages 105-132.
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