Human Rights in a Facebook Age
The freedom to share information & express opinions is a human right. So is privacy.
Never before in the history of humankind have we been able to enjoy sharing information so easily. In the past two decades, information sharing has been facilitated by social networking platforms, not least by Facebook. These networking sites have literally augmented humanity’s freedom and ability to express opinions and share them globally.
When Facebook went public in 2012, its founder Mark Zuckerberg published a statement of intent in which he reiterated the initial purpose of his social media platform:
“It was built to accomplish a social mission — to make the world more open and connected.”
These intentions are laudable. The ability to “share information” is a basic human right and in facilitating the reception and sharing of information across cultures worldwide, one could almost argue that Zuckerberg became a major instrument in implementing Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Article 19.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference…
