Browsing by Subject "cyberspace"
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(2020)The assumption that international law applies in cyberspace is widely accepted. In its 2013 and 2015 reports, the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts on Advancing Responsible State Behaviour in Cyberspace in the Context of International Security concluded that international law, particularly the United Nations Charter, is applicable to the use of ICTs. In recent years, several states have attributed cyber operations to other states. In practice, however, international legal framework has never been used to respond to these acts. Therefore, based on the assertation that state conduct is regulated by international legal norms, the author of this thesis aims to answer to the central research question: how international law concerning the responsibility of states for internationally wrongful acts applies and with what effect on cyber operations conducted by non-state actors? The author argues that the law of state responsibility does not provide a solution. Although at first glance, Article 8 of ILC Articles appears to be clear and settled: in order to establish state responsibility, one of the terms ‘instructions’, ‘direction’ and ‘control’ has to be established. But as the author considered the writings of international legal scholars and corresponding jurisprudence, it appeared that it has not been well-developed in the law of state responsibility and therefore is opened to misinterpretations. Thus, the answer to the research question posed at the beginning of this thesis is negative. However, for the future research, the author suggests that the principle of due diligence and state liability regime might be considered as a new perspective alongside the state responsibility regime.
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(2021)In this Master’s thesis the aim is to examine what are the elements of direct and public incitement to genocide under the Rome Statute, and how have they been examined in international criminal jurisprudence, what is the territorial jurisdiction of the ICC in light of the recent rulings by the Court’s PTCs and how can it be applied to incitement to genocide committed through the internet as well as can a social media platform’s owner be considered responsible for incitement to genocide under the Rome Statute. The inspiration for this thesis arises from the role Facebook has had in the alleged crimes that have taken place in Myanmar and the Statutes failure to take into account crimes committed in the internet. The role social media has had in the violence against Rohingyas gives a graphic example of the impact such inciting material may have through the global outreach of social media platforms. The methodology used in the thesis is primarily doctrinal. However, the research questions are approached with the help of an article written by Michail Vagias concerning the jurisdiction of the ICC over core crimes committed through the internet. The article is discussed throughout the thesis. The thesis begins with establishing the elements of direct and public incitement to genocide. With the help of the jurisprudence of ad hoc tribunals, this thesis puts together an exhaustive definition of the crime, gathering also the most contentious issues concerning the definition and nature of the crime. Next, the territorial jurisdiction of the Court is examined. In addition to reviewing the article by Vagias, this thesis examines in-depth two recent decision by the Court’s PTCs that define the limits of the Court’s territorial jurisdiction. Through an examination of the Court’s territorial jurisdiction, the PTCs’ recent decisions and relevant legal scholarship, this thesis will provide a refined version of Vagias’ approach on the Court’s jurisdiction over crimes committed online and the hypothetical situation he uses to illustrate the issue. The crime of direct and public incitement to genocide can be considered a preliminary phase of the gravest crime known to mankind and thus has to be effectively prosecuted when appropriate. Because of the emergence of new technologies and the changes in its operational environment, the Court must, in addition to the actual perpetrator, consider the responsibility of those de facto providing the platform for incitement to genocide. Thus, this thesis also sets out to investigate under what circumstances a controlling owner of a social media platform can be 1. held criminally responsible under the Rome Statute for incitement to genocide taking place on the platform or 2. held responsible for aiding and abetting in incitement to genocide taking place on the platform. In addition to the Court’s jurisdiction over natural persons acting on behalf of a company and over proper and improper omissions, this thesis discusses elements of commission by omission and aiding and abetting by omission as they are established in the jurisprudence of the ad hoc tribunals. This thesis will contribute by proposing that an executive could be held liable if the specific elements of omission, constructed from the jurisprudence of the ad hoc tribunals and recent legal scholarship, are fulfilled. In addition, this thesis will argue that the elements of commission by omission differ from the elements of aiding and abetting by omission. Further, this thesis discusses whether an executive of a social media platform is under the legal duty to prevent incitement to genocide from taking place according to international law.
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(2019)This work explores and attempts to identify the image of monstrosity that exists in cyberspace. Over the last few decades, the Internet has had a significant impact on society. The specific spatiality, materiality, and a mode of functioning of symbolic order in cyberspace influenced monsters and the way they function within the contemporary, digitally mediated society. By examining a hate comment case at the Higher School of Equality activist group, the author analyzes the process of the formation of the image of the monstrous and outlines its main features in cyberspace. Understanding of the existing image of monstrosity provides feedback on the contemporary fears of society and allows us to see what constitutes the present-day ultimate Other. The author focuses on the role of order as a condition for the existence of monsters who always attempt to transgress it. Two chapters of the work examine two types of order: discursive and symbolic ones. The first chapter analyzes the role of discursive order in the formation of the image of monstrous by implementing the ideas of discourse and normality. Normality plays a vital role in the formation of the image of monstrous because monsters are always what is outside of the norm. The contextuality of discursive normality implies that the image of monster is also contextual. Furthermore, through the concept of materiality of media, the work articulates cyberspace as a productive location which can have its own problematics and a specific image of monstrosity. New materialist approach establishes affirmative relations between cyberspace and real space and allows for a differing image of monstrosity to exist. The chapter also discusses how the current discourse in Russian social media influences the Higher School of Equality activist page. The second chapter discusses the existence of symbolic order in cyberspace as well as its potential to influence the image of monster. The author provides an overview of the idea of symbolic order and establishes its linkage to the concept of monstrosity. Next, the mode of functioning of symbolic order in cyberspace is examined. There are three hypotheses: the end of symbolic order in cyberspace, continuation of symbolic order in cyberspace, and continuation of symbolic order in cyberspace by other means. The author discusses each of the hypotheses and claims for the presence of symbolic order in cyberspace which enables the existence of monsters. Each chapter is followed by a case analysis where the described framework is applied to the Higher School of Equality case. Case analysis focuses on the dynamics that occur on the intersection of discursive normalities of Russian media and Higher School of Equality group. The conclusion part puts the results from two chapters together and discusses what constitutes the image of monster in cyberspace. The work identifies that the main features of the image of monster in cyberspace are its contextuality and the impossibility of complete externalization of a monster. Therefore, on the Internet, the multiplicity of internet pages and contexts allows to move between normalities and thus monstrosities easily. However, one is confronted by a situation where a subject can identify together with someone who can be a monster in a different context. It brings about the second feature which is the proximity of a monster due to the impossibility of its externalization. The work concludes that in cyberspace, each subject can potentially and contextually occupy the position of a monster.
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