Australian Human Rights Commission Human Rights in the Digital Age: Additional Material Submitted to the UN Global Digital Compact, 30 April 2023 1 Introduction 1. The Australian Human Rights Commission (Commission) welcomes the opportunity to make this submission to the United Nations Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology (Envoy) in respect of the Global Digital Compact (Compact). 2. The role of the Commission is to work towards a world in which human rights are respected, protected and promoted. While the Commission has expertise and knowledge in the area of human rights generally, relevant to the Compact, it has also developed specific expertise in respect of the human rights risks posed by digital technologies. Most recently, this can be seen in the Human Rights and Technology Project, which was a three-year, national investigation that culminated with the release of the Human Rights and Technology Project Final Report in 2021 (Final Report). 3. This submission builds on the previous work that the Commission has done to advocate for human rights-centred design and deployment of new and emerging technologies, and demonstrates a commitment to global leadership in respect of human rights in digital spaces. 4. The Commission has continued its work in 2023 on human rights and technology. This submission is in addition to other 2023 submissions to date, including to the: • Select Committee on Foreign Interference through Social Media • Targeted Review of Divisions 270–271 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) (in respect of technology facilitated crime) • Attorney-General’s Department Review Report on the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) • Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences’ Call for input on the use of technology in facilitating and preventing contemporary forms of slavery • Australian Competition and Consumer Commission expanding digital platform ecosystem issues paper (pending public release). 5. In this submission the Commission addresses the protection of data, regulation of artificial intelligence, application of human rights online and the introduction of an accountability criteria for discrimination and misleading content. The Commissions welcomes further opportunities to provide submissions to the Envoy. 3