Author
Ms Zhaoyan Wang
Organisation/Institution
East China University of Political Science and Law
Country
CHINA
Panel
International Law
Title
Defining ‘Digital Sovereignty’: An International Law Perspective
Abstract
‘Digital sovereignty’ is a concept that has been gaining attention in line with the advancement of cyber technology and has been the subject of heated discussions in both political science and jurisprudence. However, the concept of digital sovereignty and its boundaries have not yet been agreed upon by the academic community, and the concept of ‘sovereignty’ has been radiated from the axiomatic meaning of describing the state to the cyber and data domain, inevitably intertwining with the role of international law. In the current international community, there are differences in the claims of various subjects of international law on ‘digital sovereignty’, reflecting obvious differences in value and functional orientation. The traditional concept of ‘sovereignty’ has its own connotation in international law, which cannot be directly transferred to the ‘digital’ domain, and the traditional principle of sovereignty can be partially applied to the digital domain. ‘Digital sovereignty has an inclusive relationship with its neighbouring concepts of ‘cyber sovereignty’ and ‘data sovereignty’, and the three need to be defined, bridged and unified. It will be mainly discussed the relationship between digital sovereignty and traditional state sovereignty, the international law connotation and extension of digital sovereignty, and the possible international law framework and principles of digital sovereignty. Adhering to the statism view of sovereignty and defining the concept of digital sovereignty in international law is of great significance to the construction of a community of shared future in cyberspace and the construction of China’s international law discourse.
Biography
Zhaoyan Wang, Ph.D student at East China University of Political Science and Law (ECUPL), LL.M at ECUPL. She has studied at the University of Oslo, Norway, as an exchange student. Her main research areas are Public International Law, International Humanitarian Law, and Foreign-Related Rule of Law. Her article On Child Soldiers’ Targetablity in Armed Conflict have been recognized by the Renmin University Photocopying Newspaper and Periodical Materials. She recently serves as assistant coach for the university's ICC Moot Court Team.
