Human Rights Threatened by Democracy

World Human Rights Day – commemorated every year on Dec. 10 -- is the way for humans to nurture their noble ideals and uphold the belief that human life cannot be oppressed or treated arbitrarily.

These ideals confirm the shared obligation to support the growth of every human being, so that the world continues to be enriched with the beauty of various human charms. This ideal has been imprinted for 70 years in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Over that time, it has served as a compass guiding the behavior of human beings. In various parts of the world, millions of people are growing up because the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is clearly specified in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, plus various other instruments.

However, these human rights instruments are not a guarantee that there will be no more human rights violations on earth. Nor do they mean that state that have ratified them keep their promises. Indonesia does not escape from this grim reality.

Twenty years ago a loud cry of "Reform" was heard throughout the country. The wave of democratization was rolling, bringing Indonesia into a new phase. However, after two decades, human rights violations continue to occur, and many cases of the past have not been resolved. The victims and their family members who stand under the black umbrella every Thursday in front of the Presidential Palace are proof that democratization does not automatically guarantee the promotion and protection of human rights. In fact, what has been happening recently is just the opposite. With digitalization of human life, democracy can actually be the biggest threat to the noble ideal of protecting human rights.

Majority terror

In the realm of thought of modern humans, democracy has an honorable status as the only political system that protects humans from arbitrary power. That is why modern world politicians of various ideological backgrounds like to act as true democrats. The superiority of democracy is so incomparable that democracy is seen as piety in politics.

This way of thinking is not without risks. In Democratic Faith (2005), Patrick J. Deneen warns that democracy is now treated by thinkers and political practitioners like an "object of worship". This belief in democracy manifests itself in piety toward rituals and physical symbols, such as campaigns, general elections and vote counting. Because democracy has become the apotheosis of human political vision, citizens no longer ask whether democratic state institutions are still loyal to the basic values of democracy. In fact, in that loyalty there lies respect for human rights.

The glorification of the majority vote, especially when wrapped neatly with a veil of religion, is quickly regarded as absolute truth. This is becoming increasingly evident with the strengthening wave of populism on the world political stage. As a political tactic, populism is exploited by politicians who act as

defenders of the common people who are oppressed by the political elite. With well-prepared calculation and deliberation, they campaign by provoking ethnic sentiments that easily provoke emotional reactions. Instead of inviting people to be critical and respecting different groups, they continue to shout: "Because we are numerous, we are the winners. So, we are right." More or less that is the popular error of thinking in this era.

According to the critical study of Siva Vaidhyanathan, the spread of populism cannot be separated from the influence of social media, especially Facebook. In Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy (2018), Vaidhyanathan revealed a simple, effective reflection: "Facebook might improve the quality of our personal lives [...] However, collectively we get worse due to Facebook."

Vaidhyanathan’s observation is not solely based on the power and internal mechanism of Facebook\'s algorithms that make it so effective in spreading false news and hate speech for political propaganda. The more fundamental problem is that addiction to the digital world and social media weakens the ability to think critically and deeply.

Digital technology does allow information to flow rapidly and trigger new ideas. However, it is not rare that those being spread in society are merely a simplification of ideas that target the affective dimension. As a result, widespread emotional reactions are quickly captured by the Facebook algorithm and spread to users who have similar preferences.

Because they do not accept alternative views, the majority group feels justified. The space for different minority groups gets increasingly narrow. Their voices, and more fundamentally, the respect for human rights, are covered by the drive of the majority with thinner critical power.

Taking care of human rights, improving democracy

This threat does not necessarily mean that the nobility of the ideals to take care of human rights through democracy is no longer meaningful. It is the same as the adage of buruk muka cermin dibelah (A bad workman blames his tools). However, the path of its workmanship is now increasingly steep and full of rejection of the majority in the name of advancing into the future. In fact, the future is impossible to be materialized without taking into account the past.

Past wounds only heal if there is the courage to open the wound and cure it. True reconciliation is indeed a paradoxical way. Future peace is built not by denying the past which was full of conflicts, but with a just solution. Being fair means there is recognition and the perpetrator accepts the legal consequences. Straightforwardly, respect for human rights requires an end to impunity.

The task of taking care of the human rights ideals can no longer be entrusted solely on tools and law enforcement. Rather, human rights education and democracy need to be pursued by emphasizing that democracy is greater than just the voice of the majority and social media populism. Democracy or – more precisely – democratization is an effort to involve all parties in the decision-making process so that no rights are taken away.

What is noble can only be materialized if humans faithfully take care of their reasoning power. Through reasoning, humans learn to be human. Allowing digitalization of life to confiscate it is like abandoning

humanity. The price is too high. At stake here are the human rights of all of us, especially of those who are marginalized. (Angga Indraswara, Lecturer, University of Sanata Dharma, Yogyakarta)