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Online platforms and social media have become an integral part of the daily lives of millions of individuals worldwide. Concerns about the dissemination of illegal content via these platforms and disinformation and misinformation on social media have prompted states and international organizations to seek to strengthen the regulation of online content.
The respect of human rights by technology companies, such as online platforms and social media companies is therefore crucial for leveraging and fostering a rights-respecting technology ecosystem.
Against this backdrop, our new Working Paper Regulatory Approaches to Online Harms and Human Rights: Three Case Studies discusses how to best place human rights – particularly the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) – at the centre of regulatory frameworks and legislation on online harms.
Written by our Senior Research Fellow Dr Ana Beduschi and aimed at policy-makers and all those working on the regulation of online harms, it examines their regulation in three jurisdictions – Brazil, the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK).
‘Many countries are currently developing new regulations for online harm. Our analysis precisely aims at supporting them in this endeavour’ underlines Felix Kirchmeier, Manager of Policy Studies at the Geneva Academy.
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Via the three case studies, the author evaluates how different legislative proposals take human rights considerations into account – particularly the corporate responsibility to respect human rights embedded in the three pillars of the UNGPs – with a focus on the right to freedom of expression online.
‘In this paper, I investigate whether these legislative proposals in Brazil, the EU and in the UK put forward substantive or procedural rules, or both, and the key challenges and opportunities for each of these approaches. I also discuss whether there are potential reverse negative impacts for the protection of freedom of expression online’ explains Dr Beduschi.
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The analysis of the three case studies shows that legislative measures laying down substantive and process-oriented obligations for online platforms might support legal certainty. Nonetheless, paradoxically, depending on how these legal obligations are set, they may lead to potential violations of the very rights that they seek to protect.
‘Many challenges still lie ahead. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach for online harms regulation. Still, there is a crucial need for legislative proposals to consider the effects they may have on the protection and respect of human rights’ underlines Dr Beduschi
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This paper is part of our research on disruptive technologies and rights-based resilience – funded by the Geneva Science-Policy Interface and carried out in partnership with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights B-Tech Project.
It will serve as a background paper for an online workshop in February 2022 that will address regulatory approaches to digital technologies and the UNGPs.
Prior outputs of the project include guidance on incorporating the protection and respect for human rights in the regulation of artificial intelligence as well as a paper that proposes solid and feasible pathways to ensure that artificial intelligence (AI) does not infringe upon human rights.
Geneva Academy
Geneva Academy
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This training course will explore the major international and regional instruments for the promotion of human rights, as well as with their implementation and enforcement mechanisms; and provide practical insights into the different UN human rights mechanisms pertinent to advancing environmental issues and protecting environmental human rights defenders.
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This short course, which can be followed in Geneva or online, analyses the main international and regional norms governing the international protection of refugees. It notably examines the sources of international refugee law, including the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and their interaction with human rights law and international humanitarian law.
Project
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This research aims at taking stock of and contributing to a better understanding of the above-mentioned challenges to the principle of universality of human rights while also questioning their validity. It will identify relevant political and legal arguments and develop counter-narratives that could be instrumental to dealing with and/or overcoming the polarization of negotiations processes at the multilateral level.
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This project aims at providing support to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association Clément Voulé by addressing emerging issues affecting civic space and eveloping tools and materials allowing various stakeholders to promote and defend civic space.
Publication
