Luca Belli and Nicolo Zingales (01/12/2021). Introduction: A Glossary of Platform Law and Policy Terms to Foster Legal Interoperability. In Belli, L.; Zingales, N. & Curzi, Y. (Eds.), Glossary of Platform Law and Policy Terms (online). FGV Direito Rio. https://platformglossary.info/introduction/
Framing the Roles and Responsibilities of Platforms and their Impact on Human Rights
Patrick Penninckx
We all strive for a common understanding of the Human Rights ideals and the need of protecting our common values of Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law as the basis of our societies. The international exiting milestones, like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or the European Convention of Human Rights point in the same direction when it comes to protecting these common values in changing times and new challenges.
In an era, where the world is evolving faster than ever, we should hold on to those anchors. And just as we speak and have a common understanding about the values we need to protect, it is of extreme importance to use the same approach when exploring our fast-evolving modern lives and the turmoil it brings about. Beacons are needed.
With this intention, this Glossary puts together such beacons for the digital sector.
The development and deployment of digital platforms over the past decades has taken on a whole new dimension. They have become an important part of people’s everyday information and communication activities and more generally, of various aspects of our lives. They have also transformed individuals’ media and news consumption habits, offering new opportunities in terms of access to information, freedom of expression, public debate, and democratic participation. In short, the ability to receive and impart information and ideas.
Platforms have not only become powerful intermediaries between content producers and their audiences but have also assumed a central position in the world economy, at a time when the whole public sphere has gone through a profound structural transformation. New powerful actors, including internet intermediaries, became strongholds in their own right.