THE PRIMATE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE ASCENSION OF DEMOCRACY

Cristina LISNIC
Diana TANAS, didactic grade II
College ,,Mihai Eminescu” from  Soroca
Summary
In this article the author proposes the theoretical – applicative presentation of the set of fundamental rights
and their evolution in the age of digitization. The aim of the paper is to highlight the advantages and
disadvantages of constant technical and informational progress, thus assessing the degree of evolution of
related rights that directly determine the expression of democracy in a rule of law. The analysis of the
relationship between these two aspects will give us the opportunity to understand the role of digital
progress, the monitoring of transparency and access to information in the context of the socio-economic
development of our state, referring to national and international legislative benchmarks as well as models
of western and national involvement.
Keywords: freedom of opinion, transparency of decision-making, public awareness, citizen participation,
digital progress, right to petition, democracy.
 
 
Nothing unites people more in their desire for affirmation and in their aspiration for justice
and equality than their own rights. In the age of digitalization, they become a pervasive and
indispensable subject to society, gaining an increasing and more valuable status. As a result, a
wide-ranging phenomenon of standardization and continuous modernization of human rights is
observable, possibly largely thanks to digitization.
At the forefront, the crucial and huge impact of technology on human rights is the
possibility of people to know and become familiar with their fundamental rights and freedoms. It
is in this context that the de facto democratization of society and the functioning of the rule of
law take place.
"Democracy is the power of the well-informed people" Alexis de Tocqueville
It is obvious that the greatest benefits, from the constant technical and informational
progress, are for freedom of expression, which has become a basic component of democratic
society. In accordance with Article 10, paragraph 1 from the European Convention, "every
person has the right to freedom of expression. This right includes freedom of opinion and
freedom to receive or communicate information or ideas without interference from public
authorities and without regard to borders"[1].
Today, the request for information concerning the functioning of state institutions can be
made smoothly on the online platform "I want Info"[2]. We observe a direct advantage of
digitization by being able to request official information without incurring additional costs and
efforts. A richer spectrum of information relating to justice can be obtained on the websites:
"National Portal of the Courts of Judges", "Information portal of the justice sector", "Portal of
the court administration agency" [3].
Also here, it is worth mentioning the negative effect of excess information, namely:
modern means of telecommunications become an effective tool for manipulating/ influencing
public opinion, being able to undermine political stability and cause social explosions.
Television manipulation intensifies especially during election campaigns. Recently, the Republic
of Moldova went through the relentless election campaign of the presidential elections, in which
we could observe a mass disinformation of people.
Based on this reality, I believe that the media must be able to demonstrate equidistance and
objectivity, not be intimidated or controlled by some state institutions or politics. Starting from
good western practices, it would be necessary to educate the citizens from the school benches to
be able to filter the wealth of information, visions, and opinions around them, to monitor the
activities of public authorities, and state policies and to promote this aspect.
Another category of rights that has experienced a significant evolution is the possibility to
participate in the political life of the state, which manifests itself in several directions.
"Freedom of parties and other social-political organizations" gains influence, in the online
environment, due to the fact that every politician, political party can have official pages on social
networks. In the conditions of the current reality, these digital platforms are perceived as reliable
sources of information and the information presented often does not require further
verification. Another right related to citizen participation is the field of petitioning. "Right of
petition", according to the Administrative Code, Art.9, "implies any request, referral or proposal
submitted to the public authority"[4] through which the aim is to attract attention to a pressing
problem and its solution. Today it has become a current trend whereby Internet users to join
efforts to sign online petitions and subsequently submit them to key institutions. So, we attest an
advantage of the digital era, taking into consideration the fact that citizens from different
territorial extremes can unify their forces to rule on the current problems of society.
"Unlike our country, there is an impressive level of media expansion and involvement in
politics in the West. In the Republic of Moldova, for the time being, there is a strong
involvement of the system of governance in the concerns and activities of the press, at the
expense of the freedom of expression and the role that the press should have in contemporary
society". [5]  In this context, we frequently feel the phenomenon of distortion of official messages,
as TV channels are not exactly objective in broadcasting political information.
 Digital progress also allows the transparency of the preparation and conduct of meetings of
local and central public administration authorities. Here transparency must be understood as a
political tool for achieving a successful administration, economic growth, protecting the most
socially disadvantaged citizens. “ The Promo-LEX Association appreciates and welcomes the
live transmission of the authorities’ meetings, considering it an element of maximum
transparency of the decision-making process. Among the LPAs that make extensive use of live
streaming are: mun. Bălţi, mun. Chiţinău, mun. Soroca, Făleşti, Taraclia, UTA Gagauzia,
Nisporeni and Drochia (all sessions were broadcast live)". [6]
In the context of the current Covid-19 pandemic situation, the considerable contribution of
digitalization on the right to education is visible and is manifested by the existence of a multitude
of platforms and programs that allow studies to be carried out in online format, thus eliminating
the risk of any contamination. Although, online education in the Republic of Moldova, similar to
other states, is in a phase of unstable and insufficient development, for thousands of pupils the
right to education has not been harmed. Another problem would be the provision of digital
resources for all categories of citizens and here we can point out that the level of respect for
human rights depends on society and on the level of economic development.
In conclusion, I would like to mention that, despite disadvantages, such as discrimination
or the leakage of information in the online environment, human rights in the digitalized century
are in a continuous modernization, which also attracts the modernization of the state itself, by
building a truly democratic society.