ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes the offline sphere refers to a group of people who share social interaction and have some common relations between themselves and the other members of the group and share an area or physical space for at least some of the time. Human rights and fundamental freedoms are applicable both to offline and online spheres. One of the positions taken by a number of scholars is that the difference between basic liberties and internet liberties in terms of “offline” or “online” statuses is rather simple. Considering the significant impact of internet access on human rights, however, raises the issue as to whether access to the internet should be considered a human right in itself rather than a medium through which rights can be realised. Online threats to rights such as the freedom of expression can have far more serious offline repercussions to human rights defenders and citizens given enhanced potential for surveillance and locating actors using digital methods.
