DIGITAL AGEISM AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF THE ELDERLY: CHALLENGES AND RESPONSES OF PUBLIC AUTHORITIES

Digitalisation of Public Administration and the Dehumanisation of Procedures: A Humanistic Analysis of Tensions and Boundaries

The digitalisation of public administration is often framed as a process aimed at increasing efficiency, transparency, and accessibility of public services. However, this transformation also reshapes the relationship between citizens and the state, raising questions about the humanistic dimension of administrative procedures. This article addresses the problem of the dehumanisation of procedures in the context of digital governance and analyses the tension between system rationality and individual experience, with particular attention to how the development of digital systems transforms citizens’ experiences and their relationships with public administration. Adopting a humanistic perspective, the article argues that the growing dominance of algorithmic logic and standardised interfaces reduces citizens to data points, weakening the relational and interpretative character of administrative practices. The analysis is theoretical and interpretative, drawing on literature in public administration, management, and technology studies to identify areas where digital systems fail to capture the complexity of human experience, thereby generating new forms of exclusion and depersonalisation. The article concludes by emphasising the need to define the limits of digitalisation critically and to develop a model of public administration that is genuinely human-centred, in which technological solutions remain subordinate to human judgment and interpretative capacity.

Communication, Cultural, and Digital Rights in Pandemic Argentina: Government and Civil Society's Role

This article analyzes experiences of nationwide enjoyment and exercise of communication, cultural, and digital rights in state and community instances from a human rights‐based approach. The period covered goes from 2019—a year before the outbreak of the Covid‐19 pandemic in Argentina and the implementation of the preventive measures—to 2023, a year after they were lifted. In view of the increasing inequalities in the fields of communication, culture, and connectivity during the Covid‐19 pandemic, we ask, to what extent did the three branches of government operate effectively as guarantors of rights; what policies were designed to this effect, and how did socio‐community organizations influence public policies or develop self‐managed strategies for the exercise of these rights? The methodology a qualitative analysis of a wide survey of publicly available information, using a method based on a human rights and communication policymaking approach. The article concludes that the executive and legislative branches designed public policies to expand all three rights, but such policies turned out to be insufficient. The judicial acted mostly as an obstacle to the exercise of rights, serving the capture of policies by economic elites. Civil society organizations developed strategies for participation and advocacy in rights‐promoting public policies. At the same time, they self‐managed initiatives to guarantee such rights. The state would on occasion collaborate in the development of these efforts.

Law and Society in the Digital Age: Legal Challenges and Social Transformation

Classical foundations that underpin modern legal systems bounded territoriality, recognizable actors and a relatively stable technological base have been under threat from the swift spread of digital technologies, namely the internet, mobile devices, platform intermediaries and, most recently, artificial intelligence. This paper explores the connection between law and digital technology in the modern world on both sides; not only as the regulating institution in the context of technological change but also as an institution itself reshaped by technology. The paper outlines six main legal issues in the digital age data protection, cybercrime, artificial intelligence governance, platform regulation and intermediary liability, jurisdiction and digital sovereignty, and IP and four trends of socio-legal processes these map onto: digital inclusion, reorganization of work, public discourse, and reconstitution of identity, community online. The paper will utilize recent regional figures on the internet's penetration, overall costs of cybercrime and a comparison of the timelines of the different regulations in the region to suggest that economies in this region end up in a unique position: Asia-Pacific has the largest online population in the world, and their regulation in the digital world is far from even. The paper ends with policy recommendations to move towards a more responsive, proportional and regionally coordinated legal structure for digital governance.

Safeguarding Children’s Rights in the Digital Age: A Comparative Study of Sri Lanka, the EU, and the USA

The rapid advancement of digital technologies has profoundly reshaped childhood experiences worldwide, offering both significant opportunities and unprecedented risks. The need for a more comprehensive legal framework that deals with digital rights and the online safety of children has been very apparent in Sri Lanka. This paper examines the emerging challenges faced by children in digital environments and critically looks at the extent to which the current law and policy regime of Sri Lanka is sufficient to protect those children against threats like exposure to inappropriate content, cyberbullying, privacy invasion, and limited digital literacy. Drawing on a comparative analysis of the European Union and United States legal regimes, the study highlights significant regulatory gaps in the Sri Lankan context. The research employs a doctrinal legal methodology, supplemented by children’s rights theory and legal realism as its theoretical framework. It proposes targeted legal reforms, including the enactment of a dedicated Online Child Protection Act, enhancement of data protection laws, and integration of online safety provisions into national child protection policies. The study concludes by emphasizing the necessity of a dynamic, child-centered regulatory approach that ensures Sri Lankan children’s safety and empowerment in the digital age.

PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS ON DIGITAL PLATFORMS: CHALLENGES TO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE BRAZILIAN GENERAL DATA PROTECTION LAW (LGPD) FROM A HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE

This study analyzes the effectiveness of Law No. 13.709/2018 (General Data Protection Law – LGPD) in protecting the personal data of children and adolescents on digital platforms, from a human rights perspective. It begins with the recognition of data protection as a fundamental right, reaffirmed by Constitutional Amendment No. 115/2022, and the need to guarantee specific safeguards for children and adolescents due to their digital vulnerability. The central objective is to understand to what extent the LGPD ensures the effective protection of the privacy and dignity of children in the face of the logic of data collection and commercialization in the virtual environment. The research, of a basic nature and qualitative approach, adopts the deductive method and bibliographic procedure, based on legislation, doctrines, and reports from national and international organizations. It was found that, although the LGPD represents a normative advance, its practical application still faces barriers such as informational asymmetry, lack of digital education, and the fragility of oversight mechanisms. It is concluded that data protection for children requires coordinated action between the State, society, and digital platforms, consolidating privacy as a contemporary expression of human dignity.

Digitalization – (dis)Information – Communication – Functioning of Young People in the Digital Environment