Description:

The rate at which Internet connectivity is spreading around the world is matched only by the increasing amount of time people spend online. Today over 5 billion humans access the Internet. The overwhelming majority of them engage in social media, and almost all of them digitally live out key aspects of their daily lives. Human rights are universal in the sense that they apply to everyone, everywhere. While there are indicators that they apply in cyberspace, how they apply is a different story. The research presented here creates a matrix, mapping the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, now celebrating its 75th anniversary, into digital space. The matrix reveals that while some governments or courts mandate certain rights to fully manifest in digital space, others are making slow progress toward codification or regulation, and still others remain static. Moreover, enforcement may occur via either state regulation or corporate terms of service. Designed as the first tool of its kind for attorneys, judges, policymakers, and advocates to chart which rights are accompanying humanity onto and into the Internet, this guide is a foundational starting point for a much broader discussion to come. Rollout of this mapping project at IGF will be impactful.