This article examines the use of misleading conduct law to challenge false or deceptive business claims about their human rights practices and impacts. It does so in the context of recent developments in the field of business and human rights including the introduction of non-financial reporting, disclosure and human rights due diligence that have seen an increase in business communications about their human rights impacts. The article uses the Protect, Respect and Remedy framework of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to analyse the EU Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices (2005/29) and the Australian Consumer Law. Each prohibit misleading conduct by business. The article argues that, to differing extents, these legislations partially address the accountability gap that has emerged in the context of corporate human rights claims and practices.

Building on an independent database of 180,000 UN recommendations and a novel computational method, we present the most comprehensive study of human rights (HR) debates to date. We develop a unique empirical model that measures topical density of discourse. This innovative instrument measures the discursive activity of UN HR bodies through a machine-learning textual analysis of their outputs, offering a dynamic map of evolving trends in human rights, both over time (diachronically) and across different mechanisms (synchronically) within the UN HR ecosystem. Leveraging this comprehensive dataset and sophisticated computational methodologies, we identify which protected groups are central to different mechanisms’ attention and highlight the major human rights issues that have witnessed significant changes in attention. Our research presents significant findings on the density of UN HR discourse and its implications for two major debates in the field of HR law—HR proliferation and the structural critique of UN HR bodies.

Kathryn McNeilly and Ben Warwick (eds), The Times and Temporalities of International Human Rights Law (Hart Publishing, 2022, viii + 240pp, £41.99) ISBN 9781509949991 (pb)

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has published its much-awaited General Comment No. 25 on children’s rights in the digital environment in 2021. Much of the conversations since its adoption have centred on how General Comment No. 25 influences State behaviours in the western world or globally. Little attention has been given as to what General Comment No. 25 means for children’s right to privacy in Africa. This article seeks to explore the role of General Comment No. 25 in clarifying States’ obligations in respect of children’s rights to privacy and data protection in the digital era on the African continent. In doing so, this article first contextualises General Comment No. 25 in the broader context of the United Nations human rights system and analyses its recommendations on children’s right to privacy. Second, the article examines children’s right to privacy in Africa and analyses the specific features of the African human rights system that influence the understanding of this right. Finally, the article illuminates certain child-specific privacy and data protection measures that are being or have been included or discussed in the law-making processes and policy debates in a selection of African countries and links them to both General Comment No. 25 and the socio-cultural context of the continent.