Abstract: In the digital age, digital existence has become an important part of people’s basic way of life, and has produced a series of requirements for human rights protection related to the digital situation, including the equal use of digital technology without discrimination, the freedom from the infringement caused by the use of digital technology, the freedom from the manipulation of people by the use of digital technology, and the autonomous control of personal digital information and property. In the face of the increasingly specialized and powerful digital technology, the protection of human rights in the digital age not only requires the government to establish laws regulating the development and application of digital technology, and establish professional relief institutions and relief means to supervise data companies and social platforms, but also requires enterprises and online social platforms that develop and use digital technology to strengthen self-discipline, and establish the ethics of digital technology application that everyone must abide by.
Keywords: Digital Technology; Digital Existence of Human Beings; Digital Threats; Human Rights Protection in the Digital Context
*About the author: Chang Jian, PhD, Director of the Centre for the Study of Human Rights at Nankai University (National Human Rights Education and Training Base), Professor of Zhou Enlai School of Government, Nankai University. Main research interests: Human rights theory and policy, public governance and conflict management.
Fund project: National Social Science Planning Project “Research on Grassroots Political Stability and Risk Control” (19BZZ048).