The Author, Afreen Alam, is an LL.M Candidate (specializing in Constitutional Law) in Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi.
Introduction
The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that children and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance.[1] Almost four decades later, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was drafted to provide additional guidance on the full range of rights to which children who are under the age of 18 are entitled to. In today's information-driven society, there is a growing demand for a more integrated and comprehensive digital children's rights framework that prioritizes the interests and needs of children.
The digital environment involves interacting with a constantly evolving set of connected digital services (information, software, and apps) from commercial, public, and other providers. This includes all computing and digitally networked technologies and services, also known as ICTs, such as the internet, the World Wide Web, mobile devices and networks, online applications, social media platforms, electronic databases, online gaming, and any developments that result in access to or services for the digital environment.
According to UNICEF, the internet positively impacts children's lives, assisting them in developing digital competencies and creating opportunities for adult life. The range of possibilities provided by ICTs includes both benefits and problems.[2] The task is to develop digital skills and tactics for online security and self-care. Younger generations, who have been exposed to ICTs since childhood, are accustomed to living in a media-saturated world and hence have a more advanced and dynamic understanding of technology than their parents.
Children and adolescents get access to messages from the media and individuals, allowing them to share their thoughts and facts while encouraging dialogue. They build interpersonal relationships through various mediums, including text, photos, audio, and video. The interdisciplinary character of these practices democratizes the creation and exchange of opinions, ideas, and content while also increasing participation and diversity on the web.[3] This also aids in developing children's social and communication skills and encourages creativity and involvement.[4]
Right to education and access to information
Nations have a legal responsibility to ensure that children receive an education and have equitable access to information to support their growth and well-being. Children's right to free expression necessitates their ability to seek information and ideas. These kids have the most to gain from web access and the most to lose by being disconnected from it.
According to a new joint report from UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union, two-thirds of the world's school-age children, or 1.3 billion children aged 3 to 17, do not have access to the internet at home.[5] A lack of connectivity hampers the inability of children and young people to connect online. It makes it impossible for them to compete in the modern economy and separates them from the rest of the world. COVID-19 school closures have affected nearly a quarter of a billion pupils worldwide, causing millions of kids to rely on virtual learning. Education may be out of reach for individuals who do not have access to the internet.
Even before the pandemic, an increasing number of young people were required to develop basic, transferrable, digital, job-specific, and entrepreneurial skills to participate in the twenty-first-century economy. The digital gap exacerbates disparities that already exist between countries and communities. Globally, 58% of school-age children from the wealthiest households have access to the internet at home, compared to only 16% from the poorest households.[6] The same difference prevails across all income levels in the country. Less than one in every twenty school-age children in low-income nations has access to the internet at home, compared to approximately nine in ten in high-income countries.[7]
According to research by the Azim Premji Foundation, about 60% of Indian schoolchildren do not have access to online learning opportunities. According to similar research conducted by Oxfam India, half of the parents of students attending urban private schools cited problems with Internet signal and speed. A third was concerned about the expense of mobile data.[8] According to a new national sample survey conducted by ICRIER and LIRNEAsia, a think tank focused on digital policy, just 20% of school-age children in India had access to remote education during the pandemic, with barely half participating in live online sessions. 38% of households reported that at least one child had dropped out of school owing to Covid-19.[9]
States have a legal obligation to guarantee that children receive an education and have equitable access to information to support their growth and well-being. Children's right to free expression necessitates their ability to seek information and concepts of all types. The consequence is that authorities should presume in favor of children's internet access and that legal restrictions should be enforced only when necessary to maintain respect for other's rights, national security, public order, or public health. Children have the right to be safeguarded from economic exploitation, which has far-reaching consequences for online marketing, mainly uncontrolled in many countries.
Right to Privacy
Article 16 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) outlines that "no child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or her honor and reputation" and that "the child has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks."[10]
According to a new report submitted to the Human Rights Council, protecting children's privacy in the digital era entails acting in their best interests, actively soliciting children's opinions, and taking those opinions seriously. Today's children are the first generation born in the digital age, and their parents are the first to raise "digital children."[11]
Many people are keeping track of children's whereabouts and online activities. Monitoring technology extends from apps for parents to report their child's location to screening schools for potential future terrorists using IT systems that collect data on children's activities. Monitoring is inherently intrusive; it is not generally subject to children's agreement, and they are frequently not informed about it. But when children are aware that they are being observed, they are more inclined to change their behavior and self-censor their communications, and their faith in parents, schools or even the government may suffer.
UNICEF published a report on the growing number of internet users, focusing on children's usage, highlighting the growing dangers of cybercrime and the gaps in current rules. In its research, UNICEF emphasized the growing number of children users in India and the need for cyber laws or any form of rule, such as COPPA and GDPR in the United States and the European Union, respectively.[12] The escalating crimes such as cyberbullying, stalking, phishing, and data leaks demonstrate that the Indian administration is logistically unprepared to cope with such crimes. The report also requested that the government enact strict legislation to protect children's privacy rights.
The right to privacy recognizes children's control over their personal information. The same right entails the right to 'be forgotten' or to have data held about oneself erased, which is now formally recognized in the European Union. The best regard for children's right to privacy is demonstrated by asking for their permission before collecting their data. Consent must be freely given and informed, and a minor must have the right to withdraw at any moment. If a child lacks the capacity to consent, their consent can never be used to justify gathering their information.
Right to freedom from exploitation and abuse
The digital world may open up new avenues for perpetrating violence against children by promoting scenarios in which children encounter violence and/or are persuaded to harm themselves or others. Children are more likely to be harmed online during times of crisis because they spend more time on virtual platforms. Children should be protected from any exploitation that is detrimental to their welfare in the digital environment. Economic exploitation, including child labor, sexual exploitation and abuse, the sale, trafficking, and abduction of children, and the recruiting of children to participate in illegal activities, including forms of cybercrime, are all examples of exploitation.
Another major threat relates to children's privacy. Many teenagers use social media to post extensive personal information and photos that may remain online for extended periods. This information can affect their lives, as educational institutions or potential employers can see it in the future. Profiling and storing information related to children's online activities for commercial purposes also raises data protection issues, to which children are not adequately sensitized.[13]
Children are also at risk of exposure to illegal or harmful content that is increasingly available online, including pornography, racist and violent material as well as content that encourages drug addiction, suicide, and self-harm. Children themselves can become violent on the internet and cause harm to others. Harmful activities include bullying other children on social media. Predators also use the internet under false identities to contact children to exploit them, including engaging in sexual behavior (grooming) and even recruiting them for human trafficking.
Under international and most domestic laws, children have a legal right to be protected from abuse, including sexual abuse. Rather than preventing minors from using the internet, the legal onus is on state authorities to prevent abusers from contacting children, making the internet safer.
Right of Freedom of expression
Dealing with the spread of dangerous and illegal material is a challenging task. Removing illegal content at the source is incredibly challenging because the websites that host it can be found anywhere in the world. As a result, different methods, such as banning lists and filtering, are used in various nations to restrict the spread of unlawful information, particularly child abuse material. However, using such technologies is problematic because it can result in disproportionate limits on freedom of expression without a clear legal basis, enough openness, and effective protections against misuse, including judicial review. ISP-imposed censorship has occasionally been extended to sites unrelated to child abuse, such as those dealing with sexual and reproductive health.
Children have the right to free expression and to have their opinions heard in all areas affecting them. As a matter of law, the right to freedom of expression supersedes the policy preferences of educational institutions and other organizations. Any limitations on this fundamental freedom are illegal unless they are genuinely essential to protect the rights of others, national security, peace, or public health.
Conclusion
Digital media is a powerful tool for youngsters to exercise their rights, from obtaining information to playing games to freely and anonymously expressing themselves. Technology can help youngsters become more empowered by facilitating communication, education, and advocacy. However, the digital divide exacerbates inequalities in information and knowledge access, making it more difficult to socialize with peers and reducing awareness of and capacity to use basic tools for daily life in society. Although the younger generations are digital natives, inequities continue among socioeconomic categories. Reducing this gap will create positive synergies of social and cultural inclusion for children and adolescents, increasing skill development and creating possibilities for a lifetime.
References:
[1] UN General Assembly. (1948). Universal declaration of human rights (217 [III] A). Paris.
[2] The State of the World’s Children 2017. (2017). (Jan. 30th, 2023, 5:30PM) https://www.unicef.org/media/48601/file.
[3] OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) (2007), Participatory Web and User-Created Content. Web 2.0, Wikis and Social Networking [online] (Jan. 30th, 2023, 5:45PM) https://www.oecd.org/digital/ieconomy/participativewebanduser-createdcontentweb20wiki%20sandsocialnetworking.htm
[4] Pavez, M. I. (2014), “Derechos de la infancia en la era de Internet: América Latina y las nuevas tecnologías”, Políticas Sociales series, No. 210, (LC/L.3894), Santiago, Chile, September. A United Nations Publication.
[5] Two thirds of the world’s school-age children have no internet access at home, new UNICEF-ITU report says. (Jan. 31th, 2023, 7PM) https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/two-thirds-worlds-school-age-children-have-no-internet-access-home-new-unicef-itu.
[6] United Nations Children’s Fund and International Telecommunication Union, “How many children and young people have internet access at home? Estimating digital connectivity during the COVID-19 pandemic.” UNICEF, New York, 2020.
[7] Id.
[8] Azim Premji University, The myths of online education. (Jan. 31th, 2023, 7:30PM) https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/field-studies-in-education/myths-of-online-education.
[9] Special Correspondent, “Remote Education Was Inaccessible to Most Children, Says Survey”, The Hindu. November 12, 2021, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/remote-education-was-inaccessible-to-most-children-says-survey/article37461115.ece.
[10] United Nations. (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child. Treaty Series, 1577, 3.
[11] Education Team, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, India, Right to Privacy in the Digital Age: Children’s Right to Privacy While Using Ed Tech Services, (June, 2022).
[12] UNICEF: Make the digital world safer for children – while increasing online access to benefit the most disadvantaged. (Feb. 1st, 2023, 10:05PM) https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-make-digital-world-safer-children-while-increasing-online-access-benefit-most.
[13] Concerns Regarding Social Media and Health Issues in Adolescents and Young Adults. (2016, February). ACOG. (Feb. 2nd, 2023, 9:18PM) https://www.acog.org/en/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-opinion/articles/2016/02/concerns-regarding-social-media-and-health-issues-in-adolescents-and-young-adults.
