Advanced Journal of Management, Humanity and Social Science

Abstract The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) systems into core societal institutions—from criminal justice and welfare administration to employment and border governance—has generated unprecedented challenges for international human rights law. This article examines three intersecting dimensions of the AI-human rights nexus: the contested question of AI legal personhood, the allocation of responsibility for AI-induced harms across complex value chains, and the evolving architecture of global AI governance. Drawing on the Council of Europe's Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence (2024), the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights as applied to AI (2025), and emerging regulatory frameworks including the EU AI Act, this analysis argues that granting legal personhood to AI systems is neither necessary nor desirable for effective accountability. Instead, a functional approach that mandates human rights due diligence throughout the AI lifecycle, establishes accessible remedy mechanisms for affected individuals, and promotes regulatory coherence across jurisdictions offers a more promising pathway. The article synthesises findings from a doctrinal analysis of 45 international legal instruments, UN reports, and scholarly sources to propose a rights-based governance framework centred on mandatory human rights impact assessments, independent oversight, and meaningful stakeholder engagement with affected communities.

Abstract Each This research assesses whether, and in what manner, broader access to the internet should be recognized as a human right in contemporary international law and practice. It first outlines how established human rights instruments, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and regional systems in Europe and the Americas, already link freedoms like expression, information, education, participation, and equality to the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications. Although these documents predate the digital age, they collectively provide strong normative support. This backing helps to conceptualize meaningful internet access as a component of existing rights, rather than as a new, additional entitlement. The manuscript next analyzes how expanding digital infrastructure raises privacy and data protection challenges. It explains the tension between using data collection to serve public interests, such as health or security, and the risks of surveillance, profiling, and discrimination that result. These issues are explored through debates over contact-tracing apps, mass surveillance, and algorithmic control, illustrating their complexities. This investigation shows that, in case studies of China, India, and selected sub-Saharan African states, internet shutdowns and internet control practices operate under distinct political contexts. In all three cases, governments use technical and legal mechanisms to reduce connectivity during protests, elections, or crises. These actions are frequently in violation of their international obligations. The investigation concludes that effective enjoyment of many human rights now clearly relies on secure, affordable, and continuous access to the internet. Future legal and policy reforms at international, national, and local levels must treat internet access and digital connectivity as key conditions of human dignity and democratic accountability.