Human Rights Literacy In Civic Education In Universities In The Digital Era 2026

Abstract

The rapid development of digital technology has created both opportunities and challenges in the implementation of Human Rights (HR) values within higher education institutions. The increasing engagement of university students in digital environments requires the strengthening of human rights literacy through Civic Education to ensure that students are able to understand, respect, and apply human rights principles responsibly in digital life. This study aims to analyze the level of human rights literacy in Civic Education among university students in the digital era of 2026. This research employed a quantitative descriptive approach using a survey design. The participants consisted of 80 university students selected through purposive sampling based on the criteria of having completed a Civic Education course and actively using digital media. Data were collected through a Likert-scale questionnaire measuring human rights knowledge, awareness of rights and responsibilities, digital rights literacy, the ability to identify human rights violations in digital environments, and attitudes toward respecting human rights in digital spaces. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis with the assistance of JASP software. The findings revealed that the overall level of students’ human rights literacy was categorized as high, with a mean score of 3.97. The dimension of respect for human rights in digital spaces obtained the highest score (M = 4.21), while the ability to identify digital human rights violations recorded the lowest score (M = 3.69). Furthermore, a significant positive relationship was found between human rights literacy and the intensity of digital media usage (r = 0.618; p < .001). The study concludes that Civic Education plays a crucial role in strengthening students’ human rights literacy as digital citizens. The findings imply the need to reinforce a human rights-based Civic Education curriculum to foster democratic, critical, and responsible citizens in the digital era.