scholarly journals Machine Learning Human Rights and Wrongs: How the Successes and Failures of Supervised Learning Algorithms Can Inform the Debate About Information Effects

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin T. Greene ◽  
Baekkwan Park ◽  
Michael Colaresi
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Supervised Learning ◽  
Data Generation ◽  
Learning Problem ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Supervised Learning Algorithms ◽  
Constant Mapping ◽  
Textual Features ◽  
Human Rights Standards ◽  
Over Time

There is an ongoing debate about whether human rights standards have changed over the last 30 years. The evidence for or against this shift relies upon indicators created by human coders reading the texts of human rights reports. To help resolve this debate, we suggest translating the question of changing standards into a supervised learning problem. From this perspective, the application of consistent standards over time implies a time-constant mapping from the textual features in reports to the human coded scores. Alternatively, if the meaning of abuses have evolved over time, then the same textual features will be labeled with different numerical scores at distinct times. Of course, while the mapping from natural language to numerical human rights score is a highly complicated function, we show that these two distinct data generation processes imply divergent overall patterns of accuracy when we train a wide variety of algorithms on older versus newer sets of observations to learn how to automatically label texts with scores. Our results are consistent with the expectation that standards of human rights have changed over time.

scholarly journals Human Rights are (Increasingly) Plural: Learning the Changing Taxonomy of Human Rights from Large-scale Text Reveals Information Effects

2020 ◽  
Vol 114 (3) ◽  
pp. 888-910
Author(s):  
BAEKKWAN PARK ◽  
KEVIN GREENE ◽  
MICHAEL COLARESI
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Automated System ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
Amnesty International ◽  
The Us ◽  
Supervised Learning Algorithms ◽  
Available Information ◽  
Over Time

This manuscript helps to resolve the ongoing debate concerning the effect of information communication technology on human rights monitoring. We reconceptualize human rights as a taxonomy of nested rights that are judged in textual reports and argue that the increasing density of available information should manifest in deeper taxonomies of human rights. With a new automated system, using supervised learning algorithms, we are able to extract the implicit taxonomies of rights that were judged in texts by the US State Department, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch over time. Our analysis provides new, clear evidence of change in the structure of these taxonomies as well as in the attention to specific rights and the sharpness of distinctions between rights. Our findings bridge the natural language processing and human rights communities and allow a deeper understanding of how changes in technology have affected the recording of human rights over time.

International Court Authority

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikael Rask Madsen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Political Science ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
International Courts ◽  
International Court ◽  
Context Shapes ◽  
Criminal Matters ◽  
Over Time

Identifying the “varied authority” of international adjudicators as a common object of inquiry, this book develops a framework to conceptualize and analyze international court authority with the goal of assessing how contextual factors affect international courts’ authority, and therby their political and legal influence. Scholars drawn from a range of academic disciplines—namely law, political science, and sociology—have contributed to this book and examine the varied authority of thirteen international courts with jurisdictions that range from economic to human rights, to international criminal matters. Interdisciplinary commentaries reflect on what the framework and findings imply for the study of international court authority and legitimacy. Focusing on both global and regional adjudicatory systems, the chapters explore different ways in which contextual factors contribute to the fragility of each court’s authority over time and across the breadth of their jurisdiction. A conclusion pulls together the collective insights of how context shapes the authority of international courts.

When Human Rights Clash at the European Court of Human Rights

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Practical Relevance ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Reasonable Disagreement ◽  
European Court ◽  
Key Questions ◽  
Rights Conflicts

This book aims to answer key questions surrounding (purported) conflicts of human rights at the European Court of Human Rights. Some of these questions concern the very existence of human rights conflicts. Can human rights really conflict with one another? Or should they be interpreted in harmony with one another? Other questions relate to the resolution of genuine human rights conflicts. How should such genuine conflicts be resolved? To what extent is balancing desirable? And which understanding of balancing should be employed? Throughout the book, contributors aim to answer these questions by engaging in concerted debate on both the existence and resolution of human rights conflicts. To increase its practical relevance, the discussion is framed around leading judgments of the European Court. The book ultimately aims to suggests, through the prism of reasonable disagreement, concrete ways forward in the ongoing debate on human rights conflicts at Europe’s human rights court.

scholarly journals Content Moderation Technologies: Applying Human Rights Standards to Protect Freedom of Expression

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 607-640
Author(s):  
Thiago Dias Oliva
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Legal Perspective ◽  
Current Content ◽  
Human Rights Standards

Abstract With the increase in online content circulation new challenges have arisen: the dissemination of defamatory content, non-consensual intimate images, hate speech, fake news, the increase of copyright violations, among others. Due to the huge amount of work required in moderating content, internet platforms are developing artificial intelligence to automate decision-making content removal. This article discusses the reported performance of current content moderation technologies from a legal perspective, addressing the following question: what risks do these technologies pose to freedom of expression, access to information and diversity in the digital environment? The legal analysis developed by the article focuses on international human rights law standards. Despite recent improvements, content moderation technologies still fail to understand context, thereby posing risks to users’ free speech, access to information and equality. Consequently, it is concluded, these technologies should not be the sole basis for reaching decisions that directly affect user expression.

scholarly journals Exploring Children’s Understanding of the Legal Rights of Suspects in England and Wales

Youth Justice ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 147322542110305
Author(s):  
Vicky Kemp ◽  
Dawn Watkins
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Young People ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Research Interviews ◽  
International Human ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
Human Rights Standards

While studies have explored adult suspects’ understanding of their legal rights, seldom are the experiences of children and young people taken into account. In this article, we discuss findings arising out of research interviews conducted with 61 children and young people; many of whom have experience of being suspects. From listening to their points-of-view, we find that children and young people fundamentally lack understanding of the rights of suspects, and especially the inalienable nature of those rights. We argue this is not surprising when children are being dealt with in an adult-centred punitive system of justice, which is contrary to international human rights standards.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document