Volume 03 Issue 08-2023
56
International Journal Of Law And Criminology
(ISSN
–
2771-2214)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
08
Pages:
56-62
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
705
)
(2022:
5.
705
)
(2023:
6.
584
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
ABSTRACT
The article discusses the need to ensure the rights of children and their safety in the face of threats emanating from
the media and Internet networks in the information field. Information is provided on generally recognized
international standards for ensuring the rights and safety of children in the online environment, as well as the practice
of some foreign countries in this area is analyzed. The international legal acts and national legislative acts in the field
of information security of children are studied, the author's proposals and conclusions on their improvement are
presented.
KEYWORDS
Children, internet, digital space, children in an online environment, digital security of children.
INTRODUCTION
Today, the issue of ensuring children's rights and their
safety is becoming increasingly important in the face of
threats using Internet networks, mass media and other
means of communication in the global information
space. The rapid development of digital technologies
creates unprecedented opportunities for children and
young people to communicate, learn, share and access
information, as well as express their views and
opinions on issues affecting their lives. At the same
time, the use of Internet services poses serious risks to
the safety of children both online and in real life. In
addition, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic
worldwide has led to an increase in the number of
children using the Internet to continue their education
and communication. Restrictions during the pandemic
led to the fact that many young children began to
participate in online communication early, as a result of
which parents are also busy with their professional and
work responsibilities, which increases the risk of
children accessing various unwanted content on the
Internet without adult supervision and falling into the
trap
of
criminals
distributing
various
Research Article
LEGAL ISSUES OF ENSURING THE RIGHTS AND SAFETY OF THE CHILD IN
THE DIGITAL AGE
Submission Date:
August 18, 2023,
Accepted Date:
August 23, 2023,
Published Date:
August 28, 2023
Crossref doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/ijlc/Volume03Issue08-11
Miruktamova Feruza
Assistant Professor Of The Department Of International Law And Human Rights Of Tsul, Doctor Of Philosophy
(Phd) In Law, Uzbekistan
Journal
Website:
https://theusajournals.
com/index.php/ijlc
Copyright:
Original
content from this work
may be used under the
terms of the creative
commons
attributes
4.0 licence.
Volume 03 Issue 08-2023
57
International Journal Of Law And Criminology
(ISSN
–
2771-2214)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
08
Pages:
56-62
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
705
)
(2022:
5.
705
)
(2023:
6.
584
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
information/materials leading to to sexual violence.
These risks include cyberbullying, cybercrime,
cybergruming [1].
Statistics showed that in 2019, more than half of the
world's population used the Internet. The majority of
Internet users are younger than 44 years old, and it can
be seen that the volume of use is the same in the age
groups of 16-24 and 35-44 years. Every third Internet
user worldwide (under the age of 18) is a child, and,
according to UNICEF, 71% of the young population uses
the Internet. [2].
According to the UN, 75 percent of teenagers aged 15
to 24 used the Internet in 2022. Today, every half a
second in the world, a child connects to the Internet
for the first time. [3].
According to UNICEF, a third of Internet users are
children and adolescents under the age of 18. In this
case, it was discovered that there are 9,000 sites on the
global network promoting easy ways to commit
suicide, and more than 4,000 sites with sexual content.
Also, surveys conducted by UNICEF show that 90% of
teenagers using the Internet have encountered
pornographic images and videos, and 60% have
searched for this kind of information. [4].
Protecting children from the harmful effects of
information and ensuring their safety in the online
environment remains one of the main tasks facing each
country. If you look at the world experience, the US has
adopted the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act,
which provides that any information concerning the
privacy of persons under the age of 16 can be
distributed only with the consent of their parents, as
well as e-mail registration, the creation of their own
pages in social networks and video hosting services are
carried out only with the consent of parents. [5]
And in China, all Internet national filtering in the
country is carried out through filtering systems
developed at the state level. At the same time, China is
actively promoting a culture of Internet use among
minors. Every year, the country hosts the "National
Cyber Week", during which 200 million Internet users
receive various training materials on their mobile
devices. [6]
In the UK, control over the information content of
various media, as well as Internet sites, is effectively
carried out by involving self-governing organizations of
the country. Often such organizations are formed by
contract, consisting of the government and the police,
on the one hand, and representatives of the public,
consisting of experts, on the other. [7] Based on this, a
number of public associations operate in the UK.
Control over films and video materials is carried out by
the British Board of Film Classification, control over the
press is carried out by a self
—
regulating organization -
the Press Complaints Commission. Advertising is
controlled by The Advertising Standards Authority. As
for the Internet, there is an Association of Internet
Content Ratings that develops age ratings for
websites. There is also the Internet Watch Foundation,
which monitors the spread of child pornography and
other immoral materials on the Internet, searches for
them and removes them. [8]
In New Zealand, the Harmful Digital Communications
Act of 2015 [9] lists many types of online dangers and
threats, from cyberbullying to pornography. [10]
From the above, we can conclude that protecting
young people from destructive informational and
psychological impact remains one of the main tasks in
the face of threats coming to the global information
space through the Internet, mass media and other
means of communication.
Volume 03 Issue 08-2023
58
International Journal Of Law And Criminology
(ISSN
–
2771-2214)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
08
Pages:
56-62
SJIF
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FACTOR
(2021:
5.
705
)
(2022:
5.
705
)
(2023:
6.
584
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
In the Republic of Uzbekistan today, ensuring
information security is considered as one of the most
important factors in maintaining the stability of a
person and society, based on this, the main theme of
the legal reforms carried out in our country are
measures aimed at the healthy and well-being of the
comprehensive growth of children and youth and their
spiritual and educational development.
Given that the majority of Internet users are young
people, it is important to ensure the rights and safety
of children on the Internet in our country, as well as
further improvement of legislation in this area.
Article 33 of the Constitution of the Republic of
Uzbekistan, adopted in a new edition this year,
specifies the norm that the State should create
conditions for ensuring the use of the global
information network Internet. Article 78 of the
Constitution establishes that it is the duty of the State
to ensure and protect the rights, freedoms and
legitimate interests of the child, as well as to create the
most optimal conditions for his physical, mental and
cultural full-fledged development. [11]
Article 16 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On
Guarantees of the Rights of the Child" provides that
every child has the right to receive information that
does not harm his health, moral and spiritual
development, to search, receive and disseminate any
information, but the restrictions provided by law are
taken into account. Also, according to the law, the use
of mass media, the distribution of literature and the
screening of films showing pornography, cruelty and
violence, insulting human dignity, having a harmful
effect on children and generating crimes are
prohibited. [12]
Article 11 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On
Guarantees and Freedom of Access to Information",
adopted on April 24, 1997, provides that the mass
media are obliged to verify the reliability of published
information and, together with the informant, are
responsible for its reliability in accordance with the
procedure established by law. In this regard, liability
issues are established in the Code of Administrative
Responsibility of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the
Criminal Code.
The purpose of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan
adopted on September 8, 2017 "On the protection of
children from information that harms their health" is to
protect children from information that harms their
psyche and health. The main purpose of the law is to
regulate relations in the field of protecting children
from information that harms their health. By this Law,
the Information and Mass Communications Agency
under the Administration of the President of the
Republic of Uzbekistan is defined as a specially
authorized state div in the field of protecting
children from information that harms their health. The
law defines information risk levels and security
measures. According to the document, when
distributing information, the age category is
mandatory. [13] However, this rule applies only to
information posted on social networks and on national
content sites. However, most of the social networks
currently used by young people are not part of our
national content platforms, so it is impossible to
classify the information they provide by age
categories.
This situation alone shows that the protection of
children in the digital space and ensuring their safety
cannot be solved by one country alone, this is a task
that must be solved by the joint efforts of the world
community.
Volume 03 Issue 08-2023
59
International Journal Of Law And Criminology
(ISSN
–
2771-2214)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
08
Pages:
56-62
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
705
)
(2022:
5.
705
)
(2023:
6.
584
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
In the fight against information threats, it is impossible
to achieve results, for example, by banning or closing
Internet sources. Without a culture of information
consumption, all efforts are futile. Therefore, it is
necessary to form the child's ability to correctly receive
information, its synthesis and analysis from the family.
Analyzing the information that is rapidly entering our
lives today, as positive or negative, is a very complex
process. Therefore, it is important to form a culture of
information consumption and critical thinking skills in
children, increase their media literacy, ensure that they
comply with the rules of cyber hygiene and digital
etiquette in the Internet system against various
information threats that penetrate the Internet. mass
media, Internet and other means of communication.
The issue of protecting children in the information
space and ensuring their safety on the Internet is one
of the serious problems facing the international
community. In this regard, a number of international
organizations adopt international documents and
develop guidelines for countries in this area. In
particular, the UN, as part of its activities, gave
instructions to countries to protect children from
various destructive ideas and Internet threats.
It should be noted that the child's right to receive
information is reflected in the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child. It recognizes the obligation of
States parties to ensure the child's access to
information aimed at promoting healthy, physical and
mental development (article 17). However, the
presence of ideas in the information field that destroy
the psychological and spiritual environment of society
and damage traditional cultural, moral, ethical and
aesthetic values indicates the need to strengthen the
legal framework to combat them. This is important to
prevent an increase in the number of children at social
risk in any country. [14]
UN General Assembly Resolution 68/167 "On the right
to privacy in the Digital Age" [15] strengthens the rights
of people to privacy and freedom of expression on the
Internet. In addition, the UN Human Rights Council
Resolution 32/13 "The promotion, protection and
enjoyment of human rights on the Internet" [16] states
that human rights should be protected in the online
environment as well as in real life.
UN General Assembly documents such as "Protection
and promotion of the Rights of the Child" [17] (2014),
"Protecting children from bullying" [18] (2014) contain
UN guidelines for States to prevent discrimination and
abuse of children on the Internet.
In 2021, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
issued General Comment No. 25 [19] entitled "On
children’s rights in relation to the digital environment".
It sets out the Committee's instructions to Member
States on ensuring the rights of children in the digital
space. In 2021, the Kyoto Declaration, adopted by The
14th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and
Criminal Justice, also includes recommendations on
protecting children from various harmful ideas in the
information age and establishing cooperation between
countries in protecting their rights on the Internet. [20]
Although
the
above-mentioned
international
documents - resolutions, principles, prohibitions, give
instructions to States in the field, but from a legal point
of view they are not considered binding acts, but are
mainly declarative, recommendatory documents.
According to the provisions of the UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child, as well as the Optional Protocol
to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale
of children, child prostitution and child pornography,
Volume 03 Issue 08-2023
60
International Journal Of Law And Criminology
(ISSN
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2771-2214)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
08
Pages:
56-62
SJIF
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FACTOR
(2021:
5.
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)
(2022:
5.
705
)
(2023:
6.
584
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
States must take measures to protect children from
various threats. However, in the international legal
arena there is no universal international legal
document defining joint actions and obligations of
States to prevent threats emanating through virtual
life, to ensure the safety of children in the digital space
and to protect them from information threats.
Naturally, the period of adoption of the Convention on
the Rights of the Child (1989) and the present are
fundamentally different. Because the expansion of
today's technical capabilities and the availability of
information and communication systems, as well as
the fact that the Internet has great opportunities to
influence the behavior of children, show that
thousands of children around the world are victims of
information attacks and threats to the Internet.
Based on the above, it is proposed to develop and
adopt at the UN level the Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child "On the
protection of children from information threats in the
digital space", aimed at protecting the rights of
children in the digital world. We consider it appropriate
to specify the following tasks in this document:
-
ensuring information literacy of children,
-
protection of children's right to privacy when using
new
technologies
and
information
and
communication services,
-
implementation of information and educational
campaigns on digital security at the national level,
creation of a safe environment for children on the
Internet and protection of their dignity, safety, etc.
The above analysis shows that the issue of ensuring the
safety of children in the information space is a
multifaceted field of activity, and only a systematic
approach to it can bring success. Based on this, we
believe that the adoption of the concept at the
national level, consisting of comprehensive measures
emdiving specific goals and systemic views in this
area, also serves as an important policy document in
the field of protecting children from unpleasant
information influences and Internet threats. We
consider it expedient to adopt the Concept of
Information Security of Children in Uzbekistan, which
defines the basic principles of ensuring the information
security of children in our country, the priorities of
state policy in this area, as well as clear directions of
the system of legal, organizational and technological
measures.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, it can be said that the implementation of
the tasks proposed above serves both at the
international and national levels to form a culture of
information consumption and critical thinking skills in
children, to increase the level of media literacy, as well
as to combat online violence involving children and
youth on the Internet.
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International Journal Of Law And Criminology
(ISSN
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2771-2214)
VOLUME
03
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08
Pages:
56-62
SJIF
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(2021:
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705
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–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
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International Journal Of Law And Criminology
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VOLUME
03
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Pages:
56-62
SJIF
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FACTOR
(2021:
5.
705
)
(2022:
5.
705
)
(2023:
6.
584
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
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