Jun-E Tan
Independent researcher based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. My research and advocacy interests are broadly anchored in the areas of digital communication, human rights, and sustainable development.
Digital Rights in the Time of Covid-19
Dr. Jun-E Tan
https://slides.com/jun-e/digitalrightscovid19
What we'll talk about today
- What is digital rights?
- Some examples of digital rights concerns in the time of Covid-19
Digital Rights:
A Conceptual Framework
- Tan, J.-E. (2019). "Digital Rights in Southeast Asia: Conceptual Framework and Movement Building". In Y.H. Khoo & D. Simanjundtak (Eds.), Exploring the Nexus between Technologies and Human Rights: Opportunities and Challenges for Southeast Asia. Bangkok: SHAPE-SEA (Download)
- 24 respondents in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Manila
- Data collection: July 2019
| Paradigm | Digital (1) | Digital (2) |
Developmental (1) |
Developmental (2) |
| Sphere | Conventional rights in digital spaces | Data-centred rights | Access to the digital | Governance of the digital |
| Description of sphere | Rights of individuals in digital spaces / on the Internet | Digital data that represent physical entities | Access to digital spaces and meaningful participation | Digital and Internet governance |
| Examples of rights | ✅ Rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly online ✅ Right to consumer protection ✅ Right to seek joy and pleasure ✅ Right to exist free from violence, hateful speech, and harassment ✅ Right to not be discriminated ✅ Right to have informed consent on participation |
✅ Right to data privacy ✅ Right to freedom from digital surveillance ✅ Right to data ownership and control ✅ Right to data security and protection |
✅ Right to access state and other services online ✅ Right to access the Internet ✅ Right to access information and content ✅ Right to access hardware/software |
✅ Right to participate in digital governance processes or be consulted on Internet policy issues |
A Framework for Digital Rights
| Paradigm | Digital (1) |
| Sphere | Conventional rights in digital spaces |
| Description of sphere | Rights of individuals in digital spaces / on the Internet |
| Examples of rights | ✅ Rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly online ✅ Right to consumer protection ✅ Right to seek joy and pleasure ✅ Right to exist free from violence, hateful speech, and harassment ✅ Right to not be discriminated ✅ Right to have informed consent on participation |
A Framework for Digital Rights
- UDHR / other human rights frameworks in digital spaces
- State and corporate rights violations in these spaces
- Particularities of digital technologies that bring challenges to human rights
- Law enforcement may not understand digital spaces to apply existing law
| Paradigm | Digital (2) |
| Sphere | Data-centred rights |
| Description of sphere | Digital data that represent physical entities |
| Examples of rights | ✅ Right to data privacy ✅ Right to freedom from digital surveillance ✅ Right to data ownership and control ✅ Right to data security and protection |
A Framework for Digital Rights
- A digital clone/shadow of you, in data format
- Data models of entities used to in an inappropriate / illegal / unethical way to change user behaviour or for surveillance
- Not only limited to individuals – e.g. smart homes and cities
- Surveillance capitalism (Zuboff, 2015) – new way of capitalising data in order to change behaviour
| Paradigm | Developmental (1) |
| Sphere | Access to the digital |
| Description of sphere | Access to digital spaces and meaningful participation |
| Examples of rights | ✅ Right to access state and other services online ✅ Right to access the Internet ✅ Right to access information and content ✅ Right to access hardware/software |
A Framework for Digital Rights
- About 60% of SEA is connected to the Internet, albeit unevenly
- Access can be discussed from different levels, e.g.
- No Internet access because of lack of infrastructure
- Internet/website shutdowns
- Technologies not designed for people with disabilities
- No access to software/hardware that you bought unless you agree to Terms of Use
- No access to state services unless you have an ID
| Paradigm | Developmental (2) |
| Sphere | Governance of the digital |
| Description of sphere | Digital and Internet governance |
| Examples of rights | ✅ Right to participate in digital governance processes or be consulted on Internet policy issues |
A Framework for Digital Rights
- Practice of establishing and implementing policies, procedures, and standards for proper development, use, and management of the digital
- Involving multiple state and nonstate actors, at multiple levels, e.g.
- FoE and privacy violations can happen across the entire value chain of the ICT industry
- Internet governance: whose version of the Internet? Beijing? Silicon Valley? Washington D.C? Brussels?
Thank you for your attention :)
Digital Rights in the Time of Covid-19
By Jun-E Tan
