Introduction
The African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC) has adopted in late January 2024 its much-anticipated and first-ever Common African Position on the Application of International Law to the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Cyberspace (‘Common African Position’ or CAP). The CAP reflects the views of the AU’s 55 member States. Given the fact that only 30 or so other states in the rest of the world published their national positions regarding the applicability of international law in cyberspace, the CAP provides an exceptionally significant source for identifying international law on the topic. Much of the discussions on the CAP since its adoption have centred on its drafting process, and on selected themes, such as principles of territorial sovereignty, non-intervention, and non-use of force, and specific issues, such as sovereignty in cyber space. In this post, we seek to explore the ways in which the CAP treats another important aspect of the applicability of international law in cyberspace – the CAP’s approach to the application of international human rights law in cyberspace and, in particular, to the emergence of digital human rights.
