The Impact of the Internet on Human Rights. (Other (Not Listed) Sample)

The Impact of the Internet on Human Rights. Name Assignment 1 Course Completion Date The Impact of the Internet on Human Rights The Internet has ushered in a digital era characterized by unprecedented access to information and communication strategies transforming different world phenomena, including the exercise, enabling, and violation of human rights. On the one hand, the Internet creates many opportunities, platforms, and strategies for exercising and protecting fundamental human rights including the rights to freedom and expression. As Quimbre & Stockwell (2021) explain, the Internet provides a wider audience, connecting even the most remote areas and marginalized communities to the rest of the world to fight for their rights. Human rights activists and defenders can now plan, organize, and execute their mandates online without requiring costly travels or physical mobilization of societies. As it is, the civic space has shifted from the traditional dynamics of physical meetings and demonstrations of mass actions to cyberspace, where hashtags, online groups, spaces, and sessions are used to drive change in human rights protection. In a way, the Internet has reduced the risks associated with exercising or promoting some human rights, such as freedom of speech, especially in non-democratic countries. It has made people bolder to champion their rights owing to the anonymous and pseudo statuses offered by some of the underpinning technologies. On the other hand, the Internet is a double-edged sword in the promotion of human rights because the same spaces that are critical for human rights preservation can also be used to violate or undermine the same rights. For example, states, groups, and individuals utilize different online platforms to misinform, illegal surveillance on personal lives, and others to restrict the online civic space, all of which undermine and violate human rights. Terror groups, cyber bullies, and criminal hackers use the Internet to plan and execute their activities, which violate different human rights (Petryshyn & Hyliaka, 2021). The right to privacy, one of the fundamental human rights, has been significantly affected by the internet era because as the world becomes interconnected, it becomes challenging to protect private data and information. For instance, the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal unveiled the extent to which these rights have been violated and undermined on digital platforms. Some nations have also taken advantage of the Internet to shut down or limit the flow of information in society by banning or restricting some platforms that violate the right to information. These issues, if not regulated, may outweigh the positive impacts of the Internet on human rights; hence, stringent policies on data protection and the free flow of information must be enacted. Discussion Responses Karla I agree with you that the Internet is critical for human rights preservation through online activism, access to information, and free speech. People from traditionally marginalized groups can now raise their voices and demand their rights through different digital platforms while accessing a lot of information about various issues affecting them. However, as you have explained, the Internet also provides a platform for the violation and undermining of human rights, as evidenced by data privacy breaches, restriction or banning of digital platforms to prevent freedom of speech and information, cyberbullying, and even ter...