The Legal Regime In The UK And Readiness For Human Rights Law In Digitization In A Smart City Context Presented by: Ahed Date: March 01, 2023 ARTICLE 22 OF THE UNITED NATIONS DECLARATION ON HUMAN RIGHTS 'Everyone, as a member of the society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.' HUMAN RIGHTS WITHIN THE UNITED KINGDOM The Human Rights Act 1998 incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights which had in turn overlapped with the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights in a number of aspects. However, currently, the Bill of Rights has been introduced in June 2022 in Parliament). This Bill does ensure the European Convention on Human Rights remain enforceable in the United Kingdom. However, the Bill does introduce a new permission stage whereby individuals would need to show they will suffer significant disadvantage due to a breach of their rights. Consequently, this would impede persons' access to justice. We will now specifically look at the UK's approach to Human Rights in digitization in a smart city context. UK APPROACH TO HUMAN RIGHTS IN DIGITISATION - The prevalence of the internet, social media and the access this provides to all peoples' globally creates issues in terms of balancing civil rights; - The question is how are peoples' rights to be protected? We will specifically look at Article 22 UNDHR and the importance of peoples' economic, social and cultural rights. If anybody is able to upload anything onto the internet, this could result in an increase in fake content, online scams under the guise of investment opportunities through cryptocurrencies. ONLINE SAFETY BILL  The Bill would create a burden on internet sites and social media companies to carry out risk assessments in terms of illegal content and that which would be harmful to children.  However, it does not create a duty on internet sites and social media to ensure the authenticity of content that is uploaded by users. Thus the chances of users creating sophisticated scam investment opportunities are rife.  Consequently this would breach individuals' UNDHR Article 22 rights in respect of of economic, social and cultural rights. Individuals could suffer loss and through the breach of their right to have a dignified economic life. They would only have recourse through private legal action.  The State itself is arguably breaching its obligations arising from UNDHR Article 22 by not imposing a duty on social media companies and internet sites to authenticate content, including investment opportunities created by users. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS 1. The UK alongside numerous other countries have pledged to work towards the 17 sustainable development goals, outlined by the UN, to try to ensure prosperity for everyone by 2030. 2. The previous slides noted the UK's current position in terms of its online safety bill, alongside the potential obstruction to justice that the Bill of Rights could create. In turn, this could lead to the UK breaching its obligations under Article 22 of the UNDHR, to ensure its' citizens' economic rights to live a dignified life. 3. The approach that the UK may adopt in terms of human rights law in digitization would also interfere in its objective to meet sustainable development goals, specifically goals 10 and 11. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS CONTINUED - Sustainable Development Goal 10 would be to reduce inequality within and among countries. - Sustainable Development Goal 11 is to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient an sustainable. - The UK's proposed Online Safety Bill and Bill of Rights could foster an environment where investment scams could thrive. If this were the case, then inequalities, specifically, economic, would not be reduced. The economic inequalities among citizens would in fact increase, as more citizens may fall prey to the online scams. - Furthermore the online environment for individuals would not be safe, impeding the UK's objective to meet Sustainable Development Goal 11. SMART CITY - MANCHESTER  Now we will turn to Manchester's Digital Strategy to create an inclusive, sustainable and resilient smart city.  Manchester is recognized as the UK's "second digital city". It aims to have diverse growth sectors.  In 2021 Manchester was noted as the prime location to start and scale financial technology (Fintech) Firm. These ranks 34th globally in the Global Fintech Index by Findex able.  Manchester's digital ecosystem creates an environment for people and organizations to interact and facilitates a support network for start-ups and scale-ups, skills providers, tech meet-ups etc.  These initiatives help the UK meet its obligations per Article 22 of the UNDHR to ensure individuals' realization of economic, social and cultural rights in a broader context and would reduce inequalities to help the UK meet Sustainable Development Goal 10. Conclusion To ensure all individuals can realise their economic, social and cultural rights in line with Article 22 UNDHR it is proposed: - The Bill of Rights is amended to ensure access to justice and the Online Safety Bill could place a burden on internet sites and social media companies to ensure only authentic and legitimate investment opportunities are accessible to the public online (although this would need to be balanced against freedom of expression). - If the above approach were adopted by the UK, this would in turn help the country to reduce inequalities and ensure a safe environment, working towards realisation of sustainable development goals 10 and 11. - Smart cities, including Manchester, have adopted initiatives to ensure a safe online experience for users in their region with opportunities in Fintech and up-skilling the residents. It is imperative the UK'S Legislative Regime is not too altered, from the current one, as this could undermine the efforts of smart cities such as Manchester.