THE INTERNET BETWEEN PROMOTION AND INFRINGEMENT OF THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS FREEDOMS vs. CYBERCRIMES

The Internet has become a mean by which individuals can exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression, as well as the freedom of association, which, both play a crucial role in supporting democracy and guaranteeing human rights. But, at the same time, it also has become a mean for human rights infringement such as privacy, discrimination of specific vulnerable groups, espionage, child pornography and prostitution, as well as the democratic destabilization. The fundamental rights are neither created, nor abrogated by any state or non-state actor, being attached to humans at their birth only by the fact of being humans. “All men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity.” These rights, recognized as universal, inalienable and indivisible, are supported by the International Bill of Human Rights, which comprises three main legal instruments: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The promotion and protection of all human rights and of democratic principles serves as an international minimum standard widely enforced. Therefore, the framework of international human rights law remains relevant and equally applicable to new communication technologies, such as the Internet.