The world as we know it today is the result of human development and progress over millenniums. From the prehistoric age, the first tools, the development of speech and literacy, to the first urban revolutions, following the grouping of people into the first cities, the emergence of trade on hand, and unfortunately the emergence of wars on the other, the development of the irrigation systems - for which ancient China is known, to the development of technical achievements where the Roman Empire left an indelible trace, throughout the Middle Ages, and later the industrial revolutions, we entered the 20th and 21st centuries during which the world changed at the speed of light.
 

The generations of our great-grandmothers lived at the speed of horses and carriages, the generations of our parents lived at the speed of telegrams and telephones, while we live in an age where in real time you can find out information from any point on the planet, where in just a few hours you can travel to another side of the Earth. So, in the last couple of decades, the world has changed more than in an entire century. Today's world is changing at the speed of light and no one can say with certainty what awaits us in the next ten or twenty years.
 

All the knowledge the men habe collected over the years has brought homo sapiens to new ages, which are primarily the information age, and then the digital age in which we live today.
 

Along with these civilizational processes, the evolution of human rights took place. The position of man as an individual in the world became the focal point.
 

Today's modern man needs to balance the rapid flow of information, new knowledge that is available to everyone, as well as social life that is increasingly moving from the real world to the virtual world. In addition to all of the above, modern man and society are obliged to provide every individual with the protection of basic human rights.
 

Modern technology has reached such a level of development that we can justifiably ask the question whether today some algorithms have more knowledge about us than ourselves.
 

Today, some applications know better than us how many kilometers we traveled, where we were on this day last year, how many hours we walked or skied.
 

In addition to all the benefits that the new digital age brings us, we must take into account and adapt our society and legal systems in order to protect basic human rights.
 

What is devastating to our civilization is the fact that we had to wait thousands and thousands of years to realize that we are all equal in terms of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other circumstances. As a result of this worldview, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created in 1948, and provided every human being with universal legal protection, regardless of legal jurisdiction or other factors such as ethnicity, citizenship and gender .
 

Today, in the real world, human rights are protected by numerous protection institutes. We are primarily referring to the judiciary, which is the basis of the protection of human rights in every society. Additionally, in numerous countries, there are institutions such as the Ombudsman, then there is the media, non-governmental organizations, as well as influential individuals.
 

The moment you access the Internet, we have to defend human rights ourselves. For this reason, every individual must be educated about what human rights exist and how we can protect ourselves.

 

 

In order to talk about the topics that are the subject of our discussions, we have to start from ourselves. To analyze the situation in our societies, is the first step in gaining the right to speak about others. My country, the Republic of Serbia, follows all universal trends in the protection of human rights. Back in the year of 2015, Serbian court gave an opinion related to a case of hate speech on the social network Facebook, and part of the aforementioned opinion was implemented in a court ruling of the European Court of Human Rights from the year 2020, related to a case in Lithuania that also concerned hate speech on Facebook. 
 

A few years ago, the Republic of Serbia passed a set of laws regarding the protection of vulnerable groups on the Internet and in connection with the Internet. Chapter twenty-seven, entitled Criminal offenses against computer data security, of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Serbia deals with the topic of computer data security.
 

Also, criminal acts from Articles 138 and 138a of the Criminal Code include harmful consequences that may arise as a result of digital violence.
 

Digital violence refers to the use of digital technologies (i.e. mobile phones and the Internet) with the intention of injuring, humiliating and upsetting the person to whom the violence is directed, as well as causing them damage. Digital violence encourages group hatred, harassment, stalking, invasion of privacy, insulting on any basis, as well as spreading inappropriate and offensive comments against another person .
 

Cyberbullying can manifest itself in many different ways. The most common forms of digital violence are threats, harassment, blackmail, misuse of other people's personal data and/or photos, cyberbullying, creating and using fake profiles, sexual abuse on the Internet, child pornography, hate speech, various scams on the Internet.
 

Digital violence is most widespread among the younger generations, but it also happens that adults perpetrate violence against children - harassing or persecuting them with the help of the Internet. It is important to note that this is a criminal offense punishable by law in the Republic of Serbia. My country places special focus on the protection of children and the prevention of violence against children perpetrated through social networks.
 

Another form of digital violence can be considered sexting, that is, sending and sharing content with explicit sexual content on social networks or on the Internet. Although it may seem harmless, sexting can have serious consequences, especially when it comes to minors.
 

According to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Serbia, the possession and distribution of photographs and/or videos with sexual content of minors is considered as the possession of child pornography, even if the persons portrayed  in the explicit visual materials have sent that material of have given their consent to be photographed or recorded, and is punishable by imprisonment under Article 185b (Showing, obtaining and possessing pornographic material and exploiting a minor for pornography) .
 

Content that minors made theirselves and exchange it on the internet, can fall into the wrong hands and thus reach other people for whom it is not intended. In this case, photos and videos can be used for abuse, harassment and online stalking.
 

The Republic of Serbia takes actions to influence public opinion on a daily basis through the means of public information regarding the aforementioned matters. Very often, panel discussions are organized on the mentioned topic, in which representatives of the state, judicial authorities, the professional public, the media and members of the non-governmental sector are involved. Also, an internet platform was launched under the patronage of the Government of the Republic of Serbia called ' I'll protect you', and on the website https://cuvamte.gov.rs/prijava-nasilja/ everyone can report cases of digital violence.
 

In the month of May, the Republic of Serbia had a tragic, unprecedented event in our history. A thirteen-year-old child, apparently under the influence of the Internet and the media among other things, committed a terrible massacre in an elementary school in which 9 young people and a school guard were killed. After this terrible crime, the Republic of Serbia reacted immediately and the Working Group for the Safety of Children on the Internet was formed, which should consider the introduction of measures to prohibit access to sites such as the Darknet and others alike.
 

As for other universal human rights in Serbia, we must mention some, in order to illustrate the development of human rights and freedoms in Serbia.
 

The right to freedom of the media and the right to information are at a high level. These rights are guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, and in real life they are maximally represented. Radio Television Vojvodina has newsrooms in seven languages of national minorities.
 

Civil and political rights, which are primarily based on the principle of freedom, are guaranteed in Serbia. We have witnessed various opposition and anti-government political campaigns and demonstrations in the last few years in the Republic of Serbia. Although some opposition protests were on the limit of what was allowed, with messages including death threats for the President and other state officials, the number of prosecuted opposition members is very low. Only few extremists were arrested, in whose possessions investigative bodies found weapons that could really threaten people's safety.
 

Social networks in Serbia are not censored, the opposition and the non-governmental sector have daily campaigns on the Internet, which take place without interference.
 

Serbia must certainly continue to follow world trends regarding the protection of human rights in the digital space, as well as adapt to new situations, given that the digital space is a new, unexplored field that changes every day.

 

 

'Cyberspace is now also a space of war, which puts human lives at risk' said Patrice Caine, one of the world's largest defense contractors who designs technology for security sectors, including cyber security .
 

Today, we all face the challenge of setting clear boundaries, what is allowed and what is not allowed on the Internet. When and if censorship on the Internet is allowed, what are the limits to which human freedoms should be extended.
 

What certainly creates a problem in the protection of human rights in the digital age is the possibility that one person has two or more identities. One identity is certainly the one we have in real life, while the other identities are virtual and do not necessarily represent a person's true identity. Things set up like this in the digital space open up a wide possibility of abuse and violation of basic human rights.
 

Also, when we talk about the digital age, we cannot avoid the issue of working in a digital environment. There are also numerous challenges today.
 

In the future, work as we know it may be disrupted due to the increasing influence of artificial intelligence in all segments of our lives. In the future, we will have to question ourselves whether artificial intelligence will affect one of the basic human rights - the right to work. Undoubtedly, the emergence of artificial intelligence will lead to the closure of certain jobs, to retraining, but also to the creation of new jobs.
 

During the Covid crisis, we also had disruptions in labor relations, when people were en masse directed from their previous social environment to work online. In such cases, the question was raised whether we can talk about such work as dignified work.
 

A special problem in the digital age, and in relation to work relations, is the generation gap. If our societies do not deal with the elderly population that is less computer literate, these people will not have enough knowledge and thus the opportunity to find adequate employment, which will automatically push them to the margins of society and thus into poverty and discrimination.
 

We must, as a civilization, create a balance between the development that is necessary and the digitalization of our society on the one hand, and the very purpose of our existence on the other. Because if we have masses of people who begin to consider themselves useless, as a result of feeling useless both in life and therefore in the labor market, represents a new problem that we will definitely face if we abuse the digitization process.
 

The artificial intelligence system, i.e. the code from the algorithm, of course with the influence of humans, created a big scandal in the Netherlands that resulted in the fall of the Government and false accusations that people abused the right to child support. Tens of thousands of people in the Netherlands were left without basic means of living, which directly threatened those basic, elementary rights.
 

What is certainly the most worrying, and about which Yuval Noah Harari spoke a lot in the professional public, is the danger of misuse of digital technologies. According to him, the worst scenario that can happen to our planet is a digital dictatorship carried out by a caste of superhumans.
 

To digitization, artificial intelligence and biotechnology, we certainly have to say - yes, because their development brings multiple benefits to man. But if we build hell instead of heaven and threaten our basic human rights, an apocalypse on the scale of a nuclear conflict will follow.

 

 

First of all, we have to ask the question whether we can separate "online" and "offline" human rights at all, as well as whether we can separate the issue of security into real and virtual?
 

Human rights are indivisible, we must not separate them into human rights "online" or "offline". If a person is threatened, it is irrelevant whether it is done live or online. The fact is that the security of such a person is threatened and all mechanisms must be activated in order to stop this threat.
 

Security in the broadest sense is freedom from fear, threats and physical violence and is directly related to human rights. If our security is threatened, our human rights are also threatened.
 

According to Microsoft, cyber security is the practice of protecting digital information, devices and resources. This includes our personal information, accounts, files, photos, even money.
 

Cyber security, as well as security in the broadest sense, is also directly related to the protection of human rights.

The key to protecting human rights in the digital age is educating people and adapting the judiciary. Only if people are educated can we act preventively and thus protect human rights. It is necessary to educate people in state institutions, such as the police and the prosecutor's office, but at the same time we also need to educate Internet users.
 

Adaptation of the judiciary is also a necessary process, because the trends in the digital world change at the speed of light, so the legislation must follow all the news in order to be ready to be the first bulwark in the defense of the protection of human rights in the new, digital age.
 

Adjustment of the judiciary means the adoption of new laws, the education of judges and prosecutors, as well as the establishment of court practice. If we put the judiciary on sound foundations, it will be the first bulwark for the protection of human rights, and thus the role of other levels of protection will be made easier.
 

The protection of human rights in the digital age requires daily cooperation between the judiciary, the media, the professional public, IT experts, schools and families.
 

As suggested at the UN Summit on the Transformation of Education, the digital revolution must benefit everyone. Effective actions of all participants in the process will certainly consolidate the "four pillars of education" in the digital age, which include "learning to know, learning to live together, learning to work and learning to exist" .
 

These four pillars represent the foundation of future relations, and if we really want to survive, we will all have to learn, live and work together.