Digital Rights: Latin America

               This post is a summary of the book with the incomplete title above published in 2017 at   https://itsrio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/digital-rights.pdf

               In the history of Human Rights, Latin America has been oscillating between defeat and inspiring leadership. Following World War II, the region led the creation of the world's first extensive international human rights instrument, the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, in April 1948, months before what would become its greater symbol, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But such commitment to rights was soon replaced by a succession of national dictatorial regimes, state violence and backlashes against freedom and democracy. Finally, a period of intense transformation arose from the ascension to power of governments with repressed plans of more political participation and social equality and freedom of expression. The new wave of hopes blended with the promises of digital rights. Internet and technology invited politics into its core and since then have been delivering a renewed agenda of rights and debates. We live today in a social scene that is largely in the digital world, in which various types of spaces and devices have become vital tools for recording events, news and expression. Digital platforms are used to share information and to promotea greater degree of participation and engagement in issues of public interest. Technology can bring us countless benefits, but it also creates difficult problems which need to be discussed if we aim to solve them. In terms of privacy, there is s growing fear that the development of new technologies might end up increasing the risk of violations in user's privacy. The astounding growth of social networks and connected devices greatly contributes to the expansion of the amount of information made public on the web, and generates some apprehension about its use. Such issues demonstrate how urgent it is for Latin America countries to develop comprehensive regulation regarding privacy. Many have already passed legislation that directly addresses this matter, but others, like Brazil, are falling behind and let serious violations occur. New tech developments also creates issues concerning fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression. Today, anyone can disclose his thoughts, ideas or discoveries through the globe. This constant stream of communication further serves to develop democratic participation. The tech and the way they are being used have transformed individuals into an important source of information, socio-political engagement and control of public power, allowing a greater empowerment of citizens, which triggers processes of social transformation. All these factors are representative of the emergence of a connected public sphere with significant democratic potential yet to be fully explored. In this perspective, we can already begin to see more solid contours of the consideration of this space as a fundamental dedmocratic space. In May 2011, the U.N. advocated the recognition of internet access as a human right, considering it one of the main means through which individuals may exercise their right to freedom of expression. U.N. expresses that the internet is a tool to promote development on several fronts. The deepening of democracy is one of the most remarkable of them. By drastically reducing costs and barriers to participation, the internet enables instantaneous responses,  broadening posibilities for discourse and debates. In promoting citizens engagement and political participation, the doctrine has identified the impact of the internet on the mechanisms of : 1) improving the transparency of the political processes, by monitoring the actions of government officials and public resources. 2) facilitation of direct involvement and active participation in political processes. 3) improving the quality of the formation of public opinion, with the opening of new spaces for imformation and deliberation. In 2013, Brazil experienced a couple of the biggest protests in its history. A raise in bus fares was the catalyst for several national movements demanding better quality of public services, more public transparency, measures for fighting corruption, among other claims. This would not have been possible, or at least would not have taken such magnitude, without the internet. However, it is clear that such mechanisms of democratic participation find limits. Factors such as the unequal distribution of access, the polarization of discourses, and the increasing appropriation of online space by the logic of state power and market capital. Another example of an obstacle to democracy is the increasing use of bots which conduct automatic messaging and posting on social netowrks in elections periods to promote certain political candidates. This practice, known as astroturfing, tries to simulate spontaneous political movements online by employing bots that can operate several profiles and mask their identity. Clearly, astroturfing brings even more complication to the already complex dynamics of an election, with its ability to artificially influence voters. There has also been some criticism of what has been called "couch-activism," referring to the preponderance of support to causes by manifestations that are restricted to the online environment. However, it must also be said that digital activism can break barriers that otherwise could inhibit political participation. Many people often have little time or energy to engage in activities after managing long hours and many time-consuming tasks in their routine. With the internet, citizens can participate in political discussions at any given time. Overall, the digital environment can provide various mechanisms to reduce human rights deficits and strengthen political participation. Sadly, the tech to promote the capacity of citizens to influence the course of politics are still underused. Governments and other institutions could establish different methods to enable the diffusion of the direct participation of its constituents in important decisions that will affect their lives. Brazil has applied great efforts to produce the civil rights framework for internet use. This law was sanctioned in 2014 and it is a large step towards better regulation of digital platforms. Internet governance is another focus, referring to the development and applications of shared principles, rules and procedures that concern the use of the internet. With more than two billion users around the world, the internet calls for a broader dialogue about its consequemces. The strong preference for a decentralized multistakeholder standard derives from the importance of the equal participation between players. Another field that has been the topic of many controversies refers to surveillance and cybercrime. The scandal involving digital espionage committed by the N.S.A. revealed in 2013, raised a red flag about the potential risks to privacy generated by the misuse of tech. This event has not only badly damaged the public's opinion and faith in authorities, but it has also significantly raised peoples' distrust that digital devices can keep users' information protected. This episode helps to stress the importance of the creation of strategies and structures that encourages transparency, especially to prevent such practices. Such activities should be subject to public scrutiny, at least to delineate its purpose and legal limits. Computer crimes have recently grown more sophisticated and consequently, harder to tackle. Therefore, we must develop new mechanisms to prevent those violations and pass legislation that encompasses cybercrime, in order to better deal with those occurrences. Under the advancement of tech, the key question in our countries is to ask how unchecked surveillance practice continue affecting the right to privacy of our populations. Privacy can no longer be reduced to the right of private space, but as one where everyone can take an active part in controlling the existing information of each individual; a legal manifestation of respect and protection which is guaranteed to each and every person, protecting dignity and human freedom, by recognizing within the holder, a power of control over their personal autonomy. The rapid evolution of digital tech has exposed these aspects of the right to privacy to permanent threats from around the world. The 2014 report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, deals specifically with the subject of privacy in the digital age, with a special focus on the problems arising from state surveillance and the lack of state transparency about it.