The State’s Obligation to Guarantee Human Rights in the Digital Age

As General Secretary Xi Jinping points out that “it is the pursuit of all societies to protect the life, value, and dignity of every person and ensure their entitlement to human rights.”  To realize the value goal of everyone enjoying human rights in the digital era, we should not only adhere to the human rights philosophy of people orientation and insist on the path of human rights development suited to China's national conditions, but more importantly, the state shoulders the primary responsibility for promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms. The state should actively fulfill the obligations to respect, protect, satisfy and promote the realization of every individual's rights. We will take “the State respects and safeguards human rights” stipulated in the Constitution as the starting point and goal of all the work carried out by the state, coordinate and enhance the economic, political, social, cultural and environmental rights of all the people in the digital era, and constantly realize the people's aspirations for a better life.

I. Human rights protection is the constitutional obligation of a country ruled by law in the digital age

The information revolution with digital technology as the core is surging in the Internet era, which has spawned the widespread application of artificial intelligence in all fields of modern national digital governance. When the Internet, information technology and algorithm system have been deeply embedded in everyone's study, work and life in the digital era, we have quietly realized the identity transformation from a natural person to a “digital person”. In the face of potential risks of human rights infringement arising from digital technology, socialist countries under the rule of law should actively fulfill their obligations and responsibilities for the protection of human rights. This is not only the essential requirement for the Party to unite and lead the people in developing socialist democracy, but also the core essence of China's people-centered human rights development.

Article 33 of our current Constitution clearly stipulates that “the state respects and safeguards human rights.” This clarifies the constitutional status of the state as the most important and principal subject of human rights protection obligations from the level of the supreme law of the state. This means that for the realization of the goal of human rights protection in the digital age, the state has an inescapable constitutional obligation to “respect and safeguard human rights”. The term “state”, as specified in Article 33 of the Constitution, includes all state organs exercising state power, including the legislative, executive, supervisory, judicial and military organs of the State, as well as social organizations authorized by law to exercise State power, in connection with acts of the State or in fact exercising public power of the State. State organs are the most important subjects in exercising state power and protecting human rights is the basic principle running through the process of exercising state power. This is not only the whole value of the tstate’s existence but also the legal basis for its survival and continuous development. It is also the starting point and destination of the legislative decisions made by the state in the digital era. On the one hand, the active implementation of the State’s human rights protection obligations is an important symbol of the modernization of digital governance. The new situations and issues that have emerged in the field of human rights protection in the digital age require the state, as the subject of human rights protection obligations, to make full use of digital technology, and expand the space for the free and comprehensive development of all people, while at the same time effectively assuming responsibility for the damage done to individuals, the public, the society and even the international community. Only in this way can the State’s self-understanding and self-regulation in the digital age be achieved on the basis of the full realization of the basic rights of all people. On the other hand, the State in the digital age is more likely to become the subject of human rights violations, and the forms and patterns of human rights violations may be more subtle and diversified. Clarifying the State's obligation to safeguard human rights and its constitutional responsibility is an important prerequisite for consolidating and developing a lively, stable and united political atmosphere in a socialist country based on the rule of law. The practice of the development of human political civilization shows that “the state or the state power is the greatest or most frequent force that violates human rights”  and that the state should be held responsible if the acts of exercising state power directly carried out by state organs and their public officials result in the violation of human rights. As the exercise of state power in the digital era are more likely to result in human rights violations, it is all the more important for the state to reflect on its own behavior and to take active measures not only to prevent human rights violations, but also to assume constitutional responsibility for them. Only in this way can the fundamental interests of the people be fully protected and their sense of fulfillment, happiness and safety be continuously enhanced.

II. Constitutional Principles for States to fulfill their obligations to protect human rights in the Digital Age

As mentioned earlier, the current Constitution of China clearly stipulates that “the State respects and safeguards human rights”, and that the state, as the most important subject of human rights protection, should take “respecting and safeguarding human rights” as the ultimate value goal and fundamental code of action when exercising state power and carrying out various specific tasks in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. On the basis of following the logic of human rights protection in digital state governance, by promoting the realization of the identity of digital citizens and reshaping the order of the rule of law through collaboration and cooperation among various state organs, the people are thereby guaranteed a wide range of rights and freedoms in accordance with the law, and the interests of the people are reflected, their aspirations are reflected, their rights and interests are safeguarded, and their well-being is promoted in all areas of national digital governance, so as to meet people's aspirations for a better life. In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, the State should adhere to the following constitutional principles to fulfill its obligation to safeguard human rights in the digital era:

First, adhere to the principle of CPC leadership. Article 1 of China's current Constitution clearly stipulates that “the leadership of the Communist Party of China is the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics.” The leadership of the Communist Party of China and China's socialist system determine the socialist nature of China's human rights cause and the path to achieving the goal of making the people masters of their own country and equal sharing of human rights. The current Constitution of China establishes the constitutional status of the CPC as the leading core of all our undertakings in three dimensions: history, reality and the future, and makes it clear that the people of all ethnic groups, all state organs and armed forces, all political parties, all social organizations, and all enterprises and institutions must take the Constitution as their fundamental code of activities, strictly abide by and implement it, and unswervingly uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China. In performing its obligations to protect human rights in the digital era, the state should also abide by this constitutional principle, constantly improve the specific system for the Party to lead the development of the socialist human rights cause with Chinese characteristics, implement the Party's leadership in all areas to promote the comprehensive development of all types of human rights, and carry out the Party's leadership in all aspects and the processes of all institutions of the Party and the state in fulfilling their responsibilities in protecting human rights.

Second, adhere to the principle that all power belongs to the people. Article 2 of our current Constitution clearly stipulates that “all power in the People's Republic of China belongs to the people”. The people are the creators of the long history and culture of the Chinese nation and are the fundamental force that determines the future and destiny of the Party and the State. Under the socialist system, all power of the state comes from the people, serves the people and is subject to their supervision. In other words, the value objective of the exercise of state power is to constantly realize, safeguard and develop the fundamental interests of the broadest number of people, and peoplehood is the most distinctive feature of the path of human rights development in socialist countries. On the one hand, insisting that all power belongs to the people is the essential requirement to realize the people's constitutional subject status. The people are the solid foundation for the survival and development of a socialist country, and the fundamental basis for strengthening the Party and rejuvenating the country. Always put people first, and uphold people-centered philosophy. This is the core essence of the Socialist Constitution and the central expression of the principle of people's sovereignty. On the other hand, to realize the constitutional subjectivity of the people and unswervingly follow the path of socialist political development with Chinese characteristics, we must safeguard the democratic rights of the people, fully stimulate the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of the general public, make them the main participants, promoters and beneficiaries of the development of the cause of human rights, earnestly promote their all-round development of the people, and constantly improve their well-being.

Third, adhere to the principle of socialist rule of law. Article 5 of the current Constitution clearly stipulates that “the People's Republic of China implements the rule of law and builds a socialist country under the rule of law.” The rule of law, as the basic way of governing a socialist state, is a form of state governance that takes social justice as its value orientation, democracy as its basis, the supremacy of the Constitution and the law as its premise, respect for and protection of human rights as its core, and restriction and regulation of the exercise of power as its key. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that “the rule of law is the most effective guarantee of human rights” and that “if the rule of law flourishes, the country will flourish; if it fails, the country will be in chaos”. This shows the great value of the rule of law in comprehensively promoting the development of human rights with Chinese characteristics and the long-term stability of the country. Adhering to the principle of socialist rule of law requires that the State, in fulfilling its constitutional obligation to protect human rights, on the one hand, fully ensure that the enjoyment of a wide range of rights by all citizens, insist on the equality of all before the law, respect for and protect human rights throughout all aspections of legislation, law enforcement, justice and compliance with the law, and fully guarantee citizens’ rights to personal integrity, property and personality. The State should also fully guarantee citizens’ basic political rights to participate in democratic elections, democratic consultation, democratic decision-making, democratic management and democratic supervision, and fully guarantee Citizens' economic, cultural, social and environmental rights in all aspects, and continuously raise the level of protection of human rights under the rule of law. On the other hand, the State should ensure that the operation of public power is subject to strict supervision and constraints in accordance with the law, so that public power is exercised in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the law, that violations of the law by State organs are corrected in a timely manner, that situations that may arise in the course of the exercise of power by State organs that violate human rights are always guarded against, and that no organization or individual is ever allowed to have priviledges beyond the law, so that the law and its implementation fully reflect the will of the people and safeguard the rights of the people.

III. Strengthening the constitutional system for the fulfillment of the State’s obligation to protect human rights in the digital age

As the world enters the digital age, digital citizenship has become the new identity of people, and strengthening the protection of human rights of digital citizens has become an important issue in modern State governance. The Constitution is the general statute of governance and the fundamental law of the State for the realization of human rights protection. In the digital era, the Constitution must be the fundamental guideline for the state to fulfill its duty of protecting human rights. Therefore, strengthening the constitutional system of human rights protection is the key to implementing and enforcing the people-centered human rights philosophy in all the work of the State.

First, we will develop people's democracy throughout the whole process and strengthen the people’s congress system. “The whole-process people's democracy is an institutional innovation for the development and protection of human rights”. China’s whole-process people's democracy is a full chain, all-round and full-coverage democracy; the most extensive, real and effective socialist democracy; and an important institutional path to realize and protect the individual citizen's rights in the digital age. As an important institutional carrier of the whole-process people's democracy, the people’s congress system is the fundamental political system stipulated in China's Constitution, which conforms to China's national conditions and realities, reflects the nature of the socialist State, ensures that the people are masters of the country, and guarantees the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It is an important system supporting the country's constitutional obligations to respect and protect human rights in the digital era. As the national legislature, the NPC and its Standing Committee should, in light of new situations and problems emerging in practice, speed up the legislative work on the protection of human rights in the digital era, enhance the systemic, holistic and synergistic nature of legislation on human rights protection in the digital era, especially focus on strengthening legislation in emerging areas of digital human rights development, and gradually build up a legal and institutional system necessary to meet the growing needs of the people for a better life in the digital age.

Second, we should develop consultative democracy in an all-round way and uphold and improve China’s new-type political party system. The report to the Party's 20th National Congress called for “comprehensively developing consultative democracy”. Consultative democracy is an important system designed by the Party to lead the people in effectively governing the country and ensuring that the people are masters of the country. It complements and supplements electoral democracy. Consultative democracy is not only an important form of realizing whole-process people's democracy, but also a working mechanism of China’s new-type political party system. “the CPC exercises state power and the other parties participate fully in the administration of state” is the basic feature of China’s new political party system. China's new political party system achieves the organic unity of governance and participation in politics, leadership and cooperation, consultation and supervision, embodies the essential requirements of socialist democracy, is conducive to guaranteeing the interests and demands of all sectors of our society, is conducive to listening to the voices of the people, reflecting their aspirations, and enhancing their well-being, and embodies the people's rights and demands in its content. It shows that the people are masters of the country. In order to better fulfill the obligations of protecting human rights in the digital era, the State should not only give full play to the role of the CPPCC as a specialized consultative body, carry out consultation and democracy throughout the entire process of performing its functions, and work in both ways to promote democracy, enhance unity and mutual understanding, offer advice, guide administration and build consensus, but also make it an important focus to constantly meet the people's needs for a better life and improve people's livelihood. We will listen to the voices of the people, fully reflect their aspirations, take advantage of the new situation and features of the development of people's livelihood in the digital era, and do all our work well to assist the Party and the government in promoting people's well-being.

Third, we should actively develop primary-level democracy and strengthen the construction of the system of community-level self-governance. Primary-level democracy is a form in which the people exercise democratic rights and participate in the management of state and social affairs. It is also an important embodiment of the whole-process people's democracy. Primary-level democracy is closely related to protecting the immediate interests of the people. Developing primary-level democracy and strengthening the construction of the system of community-level self-governance are important contents of the State’s fulfillment of its human rights protection obligation in the digital age. In the face of the profound changes and challenges brought about by the digital age to the mode of production, lifestyle and governance of human society, it is necessary for the State to construct a democratic system and mechanism of primary-level governance in the digital age to fulfill the obligation of protecting human rights. On the one hand, the state should combine the new trend of primary-level social governance in the digital age, in view of the new human rights issues in the digital age, continuously improve the mechanism for community-level self-governance under the leadership of primary-level Party organizations, build up the strength of primary-level organizations, and improve the institutional and working systems at the primary level in the digital era, to see that urban and rural communities can more effectively manage, serve, educate, and oversee themselves. On the other hand, the State should fully guarantee the primary-level people's rights to be informed, to participate and to oversee in the digital age, so as to effectively guarantee the realization that people are masters of the State. With the widespread application of the Internet and information technology, more and more people are using digital technologies to directly exercise their rights to democratic election, democratic consultation, democratic decision-making, democratic management and democratic supervision in urban and rural primary-level self-governance organizations, so as to realize self-management, self-service, self-education and self-supervision. In this process, the State should improve the system of openness in handling affairs, carry out flexible and diverse consultation activities by relying on the village (resident) committee, the village (resident) council, the village (resident) hearing and other forms, expand the channels for all types of community groups to participate in primary-level governance in an orderly manner, and ensure that the people manage primary-level public affairs and public welfare undertakings in accordance with the law. We will fully protect people's democratic rights and lay a solid foundation for national and social governance in the digital age.

(The author is the executive director of the Human Rights Research Institute of Guangdong University of Finance and Economics, professor of the Law School of Guangdong University of Finance and Economics, and director of the China Society for Human Rights Studies)