DIGITAL PLATFORMS AND THE DIGITISATION OF GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE

In Europe today, digital platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, provide essential means for millions of people to express themselves, engage in public debate, and organise politically (Poell & van Dijck, 2018). Crucially, governments are leveraging the power of platforms to impose new forms of restrictions on free expression, and engage in surveillance of individuals and online activism. This has profound implications for the rights to freedom of expression, privacy, and data protection. Further, platforms that once refused to cooperate with governments in identifying users responsible for disseminating allegedly illegal or harmful content are now expanding cooperation with authorities, including sharing data about users flagged by law enforcement and other authorities. As civil society organisations warn, this trend is contributing to ‘invasive and unlawful digital surveillance’ (Amnesty International, 2019, p. 24). This paper examines how European governments are leveraging the power of digital platforms to engage in government surveillance online, and assesses the compatibility of these measures with European human rights law. The paper applies a unique interdisciplinary perspective, bringing together law, political communication and surveillance studies. First, the paper examines how platforms’ algorithmic systems shape (and limit) information dissemination. The paper then critically analyses government-platform initiatives that exist to surveil citizens and gather information, including new measures under the EU’s proposed Digital Services Act. Third, it assesses how these measures comply with freedom of expression and the right to privacy, and concludes with recommendations on remedying problematic elements of the role platforms play in digitisation of government surveillance.

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Introduction

10.1093/oso/9780198828570.003.0001 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Allan Hepburn

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Church Of England ◽

Freedom Of Expression ◽

Roman Catholicism ◽

Freedom Of Conscience ◽

Oxford Movement ◽

The Right To Privacy ◽

The Right ◽

Race And Religion ◽

The Church

In the 1940s and 1950s, Britain was relatively uniform in terms of race and religion. The majority of Britons adhered to the Church of England, although Anglo-Catholic leanings—the last gasp of the Oxford Movement—prompted some people to convert to Roman Catholicism. Although the secularization thesis has had a tenacious grip on twentieth-century literary studies, it does not account for the flare-up of interest in religion in mid-century Britain. The ecumenical movement, which began in the 1930s in Europe, went into suspension during the war, and returned with vigour after 1945, advocated international collaboration among Christian denominations and consequently overlapped with the promotion of human rights, especially the defence of freedom of worship, the right to privacy, freedom of conscience, and freedom of expression.

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What of the Child? Preventing the Publication of Children's Names After the Age of 18

Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal/Potchefstroomse Elektroniese Regsblad ◽

10.17159/1727-3781/2021/v24i0a9571 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 24 ◽

pp. 1-31

Author(s):

Sophy Baird

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

Criminal Justice System ◽

Justice System ◽

Freedom Of Expression ◽

Best Interests ◽

Child Victims ◽

Criminal Proceedings ◽

The Right To Privacy ◽

The Face ◽

The Right

Children are afforded a number of protections when they encounter the criminal justice system. The need for special protection stems from the vulnerable position children occupy in society. When children form part of the criminal justice system, either by being an offender, victim, or witness, they may be subjected to harm. To mitigate against the potential harm that may be caused, our law provides that criminal proceedings involving children should not be open to the public, subject to the discretion of the court. This protection naturally seems at odds with the principle of open justice. However, the courts have reconciled the limitation with the legal purpose it serves. For all the protection and the lengths that the law goes to protect the identity of children in this regard, it appears there is an unofficial timer dictating when this protection should end. The media have been at the forefront of this conundrum to the extent that they believe that once a child (offender, victim, or witness) turns 18 years old, they are free to reveal the child's identity. This belief, grounded in the right to freedom of expression and the principle of open justice, is at odds with the principle of child's best interests, right to dignity and the right to privacy. It also stares incredulously in the face of the aims of the Child Justice Act and the principles of restorative justice. Measured against the detrimental psychological effects experienced by child victims, witnesses, and offenders, this article aims to critically analyse the legal and practical implications of revealing the identity of child victims, witnesses, and offenders after they turn 18 years old.

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Freedom of Expression and the Right to Privacy and Ethics in Dialectic of Human Rights in This Complex and Turbulent Society

International Journal of Project Management and Productivity Assessment ◽

10.4018/ijpmpa.2021070101 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 1-28

Author(s):

José Poças Rascão ◽

Nuno Gonçalo Poças

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Human Rights ◽

Online Social Networks ◽

Freedom Of Expression ◽

Technological Development ◽

Social Engineering ◽

Digital Data ◽

Right To Privacy ◽

The Right To Privacy ◽

The Right

The article is about human rights freedom of expression, the right to privacy, and ethics. Technological development (internet and social networks) emphasizes the issue of dialectics and poses many challenges. It makes the theoretical review, the history of human rights through and reference documents, an analysis of the concepts of freedom, privacy, and ethics. The internet and social networks pose many problems: digital data, people's tracks, the surveillance of citizens, the social engineering of power, online social networks, e-commerce, spaces of trust, and conflict.

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Reconceptualising Cyber Security

International Journal of Cyber Warfare and Terrorism ◽

10.4018/ijcwt.2016040103 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 32-40 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Andrew N. Liaropoulos

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Information Systems ◽

Cyber Security ◽

Freedom Of Expression ◽

Security Dilemma ◽

Critical Part ◽

Critical Information ◽

The Right To Privacy ◽

Security Discourse ◽

The Right

The cyber security discourse is dominated by states and corporations that focus on the protection of critical information infrastructure and databases. The priority is the security of information systems and networks, rather than the protection of connected users. The dominance of war metaphors in the cyber security debates has produced a security dilemma, which is not sufficiently addressing the needs of people. This article underlines this shortcoming and views cyber security through a human-centric perspective. Freedom of expression and the right to privacy are under attack in the era of cyber surveillance. From a human-centric perspective such rights should be understood as a critical part of cyber security. Human rights protections need to be effectively addressed in the digital sphere and gain their place in the cyber security agendas.

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Protection of privacy in Malaysia: A law for the future

10.26686/wgtn.17007394.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Zuryati Mohamed Yusoff

Keyword(s):

Private Information ◽

Freedom Of Expression ◽

Legal Framework ◽

The Right To Privacy ◽

Privacy Law ◽

Privacy Act ◽

Federal Constitution ◽

The Law ◽

The Individual ◽

The Right

<p>In Malaysia, the rights and liberties of the individual are recognised in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. However, the right to privacy does not have the express constitutional recognition enjoyed by other rights such as the right to life and liberty and freedom of expression. This thesis identifies gaps in the protection of privacy interests in the current legal framework. There is no self-standing law on privacy in Malaysia, though there are several laws which provide limited rights to privacy such as the laws on data protection and criminal law. The existing laws are inadequate to protect private information and to protect against the intrusion of privacy. The importation of foreign principles through the reception of English Common Law offers only limited protection. Malaysia should, therefore, have a specific law to protect privacy. With a view to attaining that goal for Malaysia, this thesis undertakes a comparative analysis of two different experiences of the development of the law of privacy. They are the privacy law in England, which is largely based on the law of breach of confidence, and the privacy law in New Zealand, which has a distinct privacy tort recognised in its case law. The conclusion is that those countries’ experience can inform developments in Malaysia, and that the best way for Malaysia to develop its law now is by the enactment of a specific Privacy Act.</p>

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Balancing the right to privacy and freedom of expression: Re-evaluating Hosking v Runting in the light of recent developments in English privacy law

10.26686/wgtn.17012045.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Abby Ward

Keyword(s):

United Kingdom ◽

New Zealand ◽

Freedom Of Expression ◽

Public Places ◽

The Right To Privacy ◽

Privacy Law ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Recent Developments ◽

Potential Impact ◽

The Right

<p>This paper examines the potential impact of recent English privacy jurisprudence on the New Zealand tort of privacy. The paper contrasts the New Zealand Court of Appeal’s aversion towards an over-expansive privacy right expressed in Hosking v Runting with an increasing readiness to override freedom of expression in favour of privacy interests in the United Kingdom. Three central conflicts in the courts’ reasoning are addressed in detail, namely privacy’s relationship with public places, individuals with public profiles and mediums of publication. While developments in English privacy law highlight reasoning flaws and theoretical shortcomings in Hosking, the increasing influence European jurisprudence on English law may nevertheless justify some divergence in the two jurisdictions’ balancing of privacy and freedom of expression.</p>

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The Case Fontevecchia and D’amico Against Argentina

REVISTA INTERNACIONAL CONSINTER DE DIREITO ◽

10.19135/revista.consinter.00012.07 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (12) ◽

pp. 179-190

Author(s):

Everson Alexandre de Assumpção

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Supreme Court ◽

Freedom Of Expression ◽

Scientific Article ◽

Vienna Convention ◽

International Treaties ◽

Right To Privacy ◽

The Right To Privacy ◽

International Court ◽

The Right

This scientific article was based on a case study, judged by the Argentine Supreme Court. In this process, the author filed a civil action in the civil court to compensate the damage against the authors, understanding that the right to privacy, privacy, honor and image rights were violated. The article sought to analyze the collision of principles, rules, rights and jurisprudence that led the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to rule in favor of Jorge Fontevecchia and Heitor D’amico. These were condemned by the Argentine State for understanding that there was a violation of the Right to Privacy. However, the international court decided to revoke the judgment passed and judged by the Supreme Court of the Argentine Nation, understanding that Fontevechia and D’amigo did not violate the Right to Freedom of Expression, making the action illegal and, therefore, forcing the Argentine State to withdraw the action and also to promote the due reparation of the damages caused to the. On February 14, 2017, the Argentine State rejected the decision of the Inter-American Court, transforming this case into one of the most famous “leading cases” of Argentine international public law. Finally, on October 18, 2017, the International Court issued another resolution to render the sentence in the Fontevecchia y D’Amico case ineffective. It was concluded, therefore, that even with the Argentine constitutional reform of 1994 and the granting of a constitutional hierarchy to international human rights standards, it was defined that the rules of international treaties “do not derogate from the provisions of the first part of the Argentine Constitution” under the terms of article 75, item 22, but attributed to the international treaties a character of complementarity, in addition to the prohibition, provided for in article 27 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, to invoke reasons of domestic law for non-compliance in order to comply with international obligations. For the preparation of this scientific article, the deductive method and qualitative and descriptive research were used. As bibliographic references were used published materials, scientific literature, Law and Jurisprudence that were relevant to the purposes discussed here.

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Legal Protection of the Right to be Forgotten on the Internet in European and Arab Legislation

International Community Law Review ◽

10.1163/18719732-12341483 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-24

Author(s):

Jamal Barafi ◽

Ali Hadi Al-Obeidi

Keyword(s):

Mass Media ◽

Freedom Of Expression ◽

Legal Protection ◽

The Internet ◽

Access To Information ◽

Right To Privacy ◽

European Approach ◽

The Right To Privacy ◽

Right To Be Forgotten ◽

The Right

Abstract The development of the Internet and mass media has facilitated access to information and freedom of expression in unprecedented ways, but in so doing there have been many violations, especially of the right to privacy. Such violations have led to calls for the establishment of the right to be forgotten. In this paper, we focus on clarifying the concept of the right to be forgotten and the conditions for establishing this. Moreover, we consider the European approach to the right to be forgotten (RTBF), showing how different European instruments have been employed to recognize this right, such as recommendations, regulations, and directives, in order to coordinate national efforts on this issue. In addition, this paper will analyze the stance of some national Arabic legislation regarding the RTBF.

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Contact Tracing Apps in ASEAN: A Threat to Privacy and Personal Data

Kathmandu School of Law Review ◽

10.46985/kslr.v8i1.2128 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 50-76

Author(s):

Agung Kurniawan Sihombing ◽

Yogi Bratajaya

Keyword(s):

Personal Data ◽

International Standards ◽

World Health ◽

Contact Tracing ◽

Right To Privacy ◽

The Right To Privacy ◽

Asean Member ◽

The World ◽

Government Surveillance ◽

The Right

On March 11 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially categorized the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as a global pandemic. The rapid spread of COVID-19 prompted governments all around the world to take steps toward controlling the pandemic and its significant socio-economic impacts. Digital technology has been relied upon to provide innovative solutions to aid efforts of stopping the spread of COVID-19. One such innovation is the development and implementation of contact tracing applications or apps. The use of these apps allows public health authorities to track confirmed cases of COVID-19 and mitigate its transmission. However, as useful as they may be, there exists a well-grounded fear that contact tracing apps may be used as a tool to broaden government surveillance powers. This is especially true among member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where domestic regulations guaranteeing the right to privacy and protection of personal data are relatively weak. Additionally, ASEAN lacks a comprehensive and strong regional mechanism for the protection of human rights and personal data. This paper aims to analyze the implementation of contact tracing apps in ASEAN member states, whether its implementation fulfills the international standards of the protection of the right to privacy and personal data, as well as provide recommendations to ensure that countries do not spiral towards a state of unrestricted government surveillance.

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