The future of freedom of expression, privacy, and democratic governance at the digital age

Abstract

The twenty-first century cyberspace offers unprecedented opportunities for prosperity and development, but also a series of new and evolving threats to international peace, security, and human rights. For some years now, there have been sustained efforts from civil society groups across the world to harness the Internet for human rights causes. However, by publicizing human rights abuses in near-real time to mass audiences, the new uses of digital technologies may also challenge the legitimacy of the international legal order itself, especially if states are not able to action their legal obligations to prevent those crimes. This thesis examines some examples of the interplay internet intermediaries, digital tools, and open data, and the capacity to deploy innovative digital ways to assist human rights monitoring. It also considers both the opportunities and challenges involved in using digital tools to assist in the prevention of human rights abuses, such as freedom of speech, data protection and right to privacy.