Delegate Name: Aryan Mehta

Agenda: Virtual Violation of Human Rights with special emphasis on Rights violated on
Social Media and other platforms

Country: Burkina Faso

Committee: UNHRC

In today’s world, human life is surrounded by technologies that provide us with millions of
opportunities. Not restricted to the family room any longer, the media are portable, adaptable,
merged, and accessible nonstop. The new media have been proclaimed as promising and
freeing innovations. The internet has opened new channels of communication and self-
expression. It has made the world a smaller place and has had a great impact on our lifestyle.
Digital network technologies, such as Facebook and Twitter, grant members a form of
universal egalitarian recognition. Platform users are considered to own the right to exist as
equals and to express their thoughts. The terms and conditions in the moment of joining a
virtual community refer to forms of respect and privacy expected inside the online
community, for example, as Article 3 UDHR concerning security of the person and Article 12
UDHR concerning the right of individuals’ privacy demand, as well as the social media
specified rights of usage and limits of participation. Burkina Faso firmly believes that internet
has had a positive impact on the world. However, this does not mean that Burkina Faso does
not consider the negative impact of internet and Burkina Faso that these problems should be
given the utmost importance as internet is being more and more intertwined in our lives.

In Burkina Faso not everyone has access to internet however our current president has made a
lot of progress in trying to provide internet for the people of Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso
firmly believes that virtual violation of human rights is a crime and people should be
punished for it. Burkina Faso believes that in today’s world the definition of the word has lost
its meaning as each country has a different definition for “Privacy” which suits their needs.
Burkina Faso believes that there should be an international standard definition of the word
“privacy” which should be agreed by all other countries and should be set as an international
standard.

Burkina Faso also believes that there should be a rule like the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 in
every country as this to this date, is the most ambitious regulation and aims at holding big
internet corporations accountable for the privacy rights of users. Burkina Faso believes that if
countries implements these kind of rules we can overcome the privacy problems and also the
sexual harassment and bullying people face on social media.

The delegate believes that there should be an E-privacy regulation that would potentially
protect users on all the electronic devices and services they would use (e.g. calls, internet
access, instant messaging applications, e-mail, internet phone calls and personal messaging
provided through social media.). The Regulation would protect privacy and confidentiality
and request effective consent from end-users regarding the processing of data.
Moreover, there should be proposal that should point at new ways of intercepting personal
data as well as how terminal equipment of users (e.g. their phone, tablets, personal
computers, etc.) can contain or process data that have the potential to harm, by
revealing among others contact details, location, private pictures, content of messages, GPS
routes, contact lists, etc., and can be the subject of spyware, hidden trackers, etc. without any
consent or knowledge of the user.