This Article has been written by Simran Bherwani, a first year student at NLUJ
Introduction
Children need extra attention while using the Internet, as well as instruction about how to escape danger and get the most out of their time there. Children must learn to be digital citizens to accomplish this. The Internet provides children with a variety of resources, but it also presents them with threats that can jeopardize their human rights. Cyberbullying, computer security problems, online grooming, cybercrime, and child sexual exploitation content are just a few of the threats.
Binding Legal Instruments
A child is described as anyone under the age of 18 according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN, 1989).[1] Children are heavy users of digital platforms: at least one out of every three internet users worldwide is a child.[2] Children use several digital tools, such as blogs, social media, mobile phone apps, and wearable devices, to learn about and share health information, track their actions and well-being, and create health-promoting content.[3] Being digitally connected to friends, family, and the rest of the world is becoming increasingly important for children's well-being.[4]The Council of Europe has introduced a range of legal principles aimed at strengthening human rights security on the Internet, including the protection of children's rights. These legal instruments bind member states, defining common minimum standards for their joint efforts to protect human rights online. In the sense of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the European Court of Human Rights has defined case law on human rights on the Internet (ETS No. 5). In such cases, the right to respect for private and family life (Article 8) and freedom of expression are two examples of rights at stake (Article 10). The UN Committee on the Protection of the Child adopted General Comment 25 on children's rights in the digital world. The General Comment will be sent to every country on the planet. It describes how the digital world affects children's civil rights and freedoms, such as privacy, non-discrimination, security, education, and play. Within the limits of 10,700 words, it also outlines why States and other duty bearers must act, as well as how they should act. The State is responsible for the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), and it must report to the Committee as the treaty body on how it has fulfilled these obligations regularly. States must also ensure that all duty bearers under their authority – including corporations and those whose actions have a direct effect on children – fulfil their obligations to children's rights. A General Comment is a legally binding document that explains how States can view and apply the UNCRC, in this case concerning the digital world. If states were already in compliance with the CRC, children's rights will be at the forefront of all decisions about the design, development, usage, and governance of artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, and the data they generate. Children's rights are always an afterthought or forgotten altogether, much like they were in the analogue age. The effect of various aspects of digital transformation on children, including the impact on their right to health, is underappreciated. As a result, digital channels and programs either neglect or harm children's interests and experiences, or worse, misrepresent and harm their rights.[5] As shown by recent measures taken by social networking sites to delete harmful content, a lack of attention to children's rights in the design of digital technology can have tragic consequences for children's health and well-being.[6]
Recommendations
All digital health participants, including those interested in information and communications technology infrastructure, technology developers, policymakers, regulators, health care providers, and civil society, may use the CRC's ready-to-use guide to determine the potential positive and negative impact of a digital health plan or action on children's rights. Every child has the right to express themselves freely, both online and offline. This right includes the freedom to discover, receive, and transmit information and ideas of any kind, regardless of boundaries, orally, in writing, or print, in the form of art, or any other medium chosen by the child. (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 13). Digitisation creates a plethora of unique opportunities for people to obtain knowledge and express themselves to a large number of people. Children have the right to peaceful assembly and the freedom to associate. (Article 15 of the UN-CRC) Where the public domain has extended into the digital world, such as through social networking sites and other types of digital assembly, this right must also be ensured/ guaranteed. The right to play is important for the development of social skills and safe childhood. This right must be exercised in a secure and appropriate environment in the digital world. (Article 31 of the UN-CRC). No child, both offline and online, shall be subjected to unfair or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, or correspondence, or unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation. (Article 16 of the UN-CRC) The online posting of a photograph without the permission of the child depicted, for example, maybe a breach of this right. Only sufficient data protection on the internet and in social networks will ensure the protection of the private domain as digitisation progresses. Personal data, such as a person's name, address, and phone number, must not be stored or transmitted to third parties without their permission.
Conclusion
With the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, the lives of children have taken a shift from traditional to digital. This has also resulted in increased screen time and usage of digital devices. Those interested in digital growth must continue to use the CRC and other human rights instruments like a compass. When children's rights are at the forefront of all decisions about digital technology's design, development, use, and governance, we will all benefit completely from its transformative potential.
[1] Convention on the Rights of the Child, G.A. Res. 44/25 (1989).
[2] S. Livingstone, J. Carr, and J. Byrne, One in three: The task for global internet governance in addressing children’s rights (London: Centre for International Governance Innovation and Chatham House, 2015).
[3] E. Rich, S. Lewis, D. Lupton, et al., Digital health generation? Young people’s use of “healthy lifestyle” technologies (Bath, UK: University of Bath, 2020).
[4] D. Kardefelt Winther, S. Livingstone, and M. Saeed Growing up in a connected world (Florence: UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti, 2019).
[5] B. Kidron, A. Evans, and J. Afia Disrupted childhood: The cost of persuasive design (London: 5Rights Foundation, 2018).
[6] “Instagram: New tools to ban self-harm and suicide posts,” BBC News (November 11, 2020). Available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54903428.
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