Theoretical grounds for defining the criteria to distinguish between digital and traditional human rights: An international legal analysis

The growing influence of digital technologies and the internet on legal systems has raised the urgent need to clearly distinguish between traditional and digital human rights. The purpose of this study was to define theoretical criteria for differentiating these rights within the framework of international legal analysis. The research was based on methods of legal analysis, comparative methodology, and content analysis of scholarly literature, international documents and national legal acts. The study examined the evolution of human rights in the digital age and analysed legal gaps in international and national frameworks. It was found that digital rights differ from traditional rights due to their technological dependence, dynamic content, and the multi-stakeholder structure of legal relations. Key features such as the context of emergence, subject composition, regulatory mechanisms, and objects of protection were identified as criteria for differentiation. It was also revealed that most digital rights emerge from private-law relations and involve actors beyond the state, including transnational corporations and algorithmic systems. The research concluded that current legal doctrine lacks a unified standard for digital rights and that the distinction between digital and traditional rights requires a systematic theoretical basis. It was generalised that new legal standards must be developed to adequately address threats to digital rights, especially in the context of AI, data privacy, and content regulation. The findings of this study can be applied by international organisations, national lawmakers, human rights defenders and academic researchers in the development of coherent and adaptive legal policies for safeguarding rights in digital environments