{"id":907,"date":"2022-09-20T15:53:58","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T14:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mediadefence.org\/ereader\/?post_type=publication&#038;p=907"},"modified":"2022-09-22T10:48:05","modified_gmt":"2022-09-22T09:48:05","slug":"what-are-digital-rights","status":"publish","type":"publication","link":"https:\/\/www.mediadefence.org\/ereader\/publications\/modules-on-litigating-freedom-of-expression-and-digital-rights-in-south-and-southeast-asia\/module-2-digital-rights\/what-are-digital-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are Digital Rights?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is now firmly established that the same rights that people have offline should also be protected online, in particular the right to freedom of expression.&nbsp; As stipulated in article 19(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/professionalinterest\/pages\/ccpr.aspx\">ICCPR<\/a>), the right to freedom of expression applies regardless of frontiers and through any media of one\u2019s choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, how established principles of freedom of expression should be applied to online content and communications is in many ways still being determined.&nbsp; For example, do bloggers and citizen journalists count as journalists and should they be afforded the same protections with regards to freedom of expression?&nbsp; How should states regulate the re-tweeting or resharing of hate speech as compared to the author of it?&nbsp; What about regulations for defamatory statements from anonymous accounts?&nbsp; These challenges are actively being grappled with by policymakers and courts around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group highlight\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h4 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\"><strong>Examples of digital rights issues<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To give an idea of the range and complexity of the issues included in the umbrella term \u2018digital rights,\u2019 here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Access to the internet.<\/strong> &nbsp;The right to access the internet is not explicitly recognised in human rights treaties, the main ones of which were elaborated prior to the internet\u2019s becoming widespread in usage. However, there has been a growing recognition in recent years that states are required to take progressive steps to promote universal access to the internet.[footnote]Juan Carlos Lara, \u2018Internet access and economic, social and cultural rights\u2019, Association for Progressive Communications (September 2015) at p 10-11 (accessible at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.apc.org\/sites\/default\/files\/APC_ESCR_Access_Juan%20Carlos%20Lara_September2015%20%281%29_0.pdf\">https:\/\/www.apc.org\/sites\/default\/files\/APC_ESCR_Access_Juan%20Carlos%20Lara_September2015%20%281%29_0.pdf<\/a>).&nbsp; The 2019 Report of the UN Secretary-General\u2019s High level panel on Digital Cooperation noted that \u201cuniversal human rights apply equally online as offline \u2013 freedom of expression and assembly, for example, are no less important in cyberspace than in cyberspace than in the town square\u201d at p 16 (accessible at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/pdfs\/DigitalCooperation-report-for%20web.pdf\">https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/pdfs\/DigitalCooperation-report-for%20web.pdf<\/a>).&nbsp; In <em>Delfi v Estonia<\/em>, Application no. 64569\/09 (2015) the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights held that the internet provided an unprecedented platform for the exercise of the right to freedom of expression (accessible at: <a href=\"https:\/\/hudoc.echr.coe.int\/eng#{%22fulltext%22:[%2264569\/09%22],%22documentcollectionid2%22:[%22GRANDCHAMBER%22,%22CHAMBER%22],%22itemid%22:[%22001-155105%22]}\">https:\/\/hudoc.echr.coe.int\/eng#{%22fulltext%22:[%2264569\/09%22],%22documentcollectionid2%22:[%22GRANDCHAMBER%22,%22CHAMBER%22],%22itemid%22:[%22001-155105%22]}<\/a>).[\/footnote]<\/li><li><strong>Interferences with access to the internet.<\/strong> &nbsp;In addition to positive obligations to progressively realise improve access to the internet, states are required to refrain from unjustified restrictions on accessing the internet through internet shutdowns, the disruption of online networks and social media sites, and the blocking and filtering of content.[footnote]See Module 3 of this course for more details.[\/footnote] All of these are considered forms of prior restraint on freedom of expression for restricting internet users from expressing themselves through these services and websites before the expression actually occurs.&nbsp; International law allows very limited space for such extreme restrictions on freedom of expression.<\/li><li><strong>The freedom to choose among information sources.<\/strong> &nbsp;The 2017 Report of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/Issues\/FreedomOpinion\/Pages\/OpinionIndex.aspx\">UN&nbsp;Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression<\/a> notes that in the digital age the freedom to choose among information sources is meaningful only when internet content and applications of all kinds are transmitted without undue discrimination or interference by non-state actors, including providers.[footnote]UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, Report A\/HRC\/38\/35 on the Role of Digital Access Providers at para.\\ 23 (2017) (accessible at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/Issues\/FreedomOpinion\/Pages\/SR2017ReporttoHRC.aspx\">https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/Issues\/FreedomOpinion\/Pages\/SR2017ReporttoHRC.aspx<\/a>).[\/footnote] This concept is known as network neutrality, the principle that all internet data should be treated equally without undue interference.[footnote]For more on net neutrality, see Module 3 of this course and pp 2-9 of Module 5 of Media Defence\u2019s Advanced Modules on Digital Rights and Freedom of Expression Online (accessible at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediadefence.org\/ereader\/publications\/advanced-modules-on-digital-rights-and-freedom-of-expression-online\/module-5-trends-in-censorship-by-private-actors\/\">https:\/\/www.mediadefence.org\/ereader\/publications\/advanced-modules-on-digital-rights-and-freedom-of-expression-online\/module-5-trends-in-censorship-by-private-actors\/<\/a>.[\/footnote] In Asia, there has been significant debate about access to zero-rated content, which is applications or websites the usage of which a mobile operator does not count towards a user\u2019s monthly data allotment, rendering it \u2018free\u2019. This is a practice commonly used by social media companies.&nbsp; Although some of these companies have touted zero-rating schemes as a means of providing access to the internet for people who might not otherwise have been able to afford it, in practice they can lead to unfair competition and can distort users\u2019 perceptions by only allowing access to particular sites. India is among the jurisdictions to have taken effective action against zero-rating, effectively banning the practice.[footnote]BBC, \u2018India Adopts \u201cWorld\u2019s Strongest\u201d Net Neutrality Norms\u2019 (2018), (accessible at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-india-44796436\">https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-india-44796436<\/a>). See also Module 3 for further details on India\u2019s response to zero-rating schemes.[\/footnote]<\/li><li><strong>The right to privacy.<\/strong> &nbsp;Exercising privacy online is increasingly difficult in a world in which we leave a digital footprint with every action we take online.&nbsp; While data protection laws are on the rise across the world, including Asia, they are of widely varying degrees of comprehensiveness and effectiveness, and often offer insufficient protection against state surveillance activities.[footnote]Digital Reach, \u2018Digital Rights in Southeast Asia 2021\/2022\u2019, (2022<em>)<\/em> (accessible at: <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalreach.asia\/event\/report-launch-digital-rights-in-southeast-asia-2021-2022\/\">https:\/\/digitalreach.asia\/event\/report-launch-digital-rights-in-southeast-asia-2021-2022\/<\/a>); Smitha Krishna Prasad &amp; Sharngan Aravindakshan (2021) &#8216;Playing catch up \u2013 privacy regimes in South Asia\u2019, <em>The International Journal of Human Rights<\/em>, 25:1, 79-116, p. 105 (accessible at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/13642987.2020.1773442\">https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/13642987.2020.1773442<\/a>). For more information on data protection, see Module 4 of this course.[\/footnote] Government-driven mass surveillance is on the rise as a result of the development of technology that enables the interception of communications in a variety of new ways, such as biometric data collection and facial recognition technology.[footnote]For more, see page 11 of Module 1 of Media Defence\u2019s Advanced Modules on Digital Rights and Freedom of Expression Online (accessible at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediadefence.org\/ereader\/publications\/advanced-modules-on-digital-rights-and-freedom-of-expression-online\/module-1-general-overview-of-trends-in-digital-rights-globally-and-expected-developments\/\">https:\/\/www.mediadefence.org\/ereader\/publications\/advanced-modules-on-digital-rights-and-freedom-of-expression-online\/module-1-general-overview-of-trends-in-digital-rights-globally-and-expected-developments\/<\/a>).[\/footnote]<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is now firmly established that the same rights that people have offline should also be protected online, in particular the right to freedom of expression.&nbsp; As stipulated in article 19(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the right to freedom of expression applies regardless of frontiers and through any media [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":899,"menu_order":58,"template":"page-templates\/chapter.php","publication-category":[],"class_list":["post-907","publication","type-publication","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What Are Digital Rights? 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