Jerinić: Oko 44.000 ljudi lišeno je prava na novčanu socijalnu pomoć

Narodna poslanica ZLF Jelena Jerinić govorila je danas na sednici Stalnog komiteta za demokratiju i ljudska prava Interparlamentarne unije, u okviru debate o Nacrtu rezolucije o uticaju veštačke inteligencije na demokratiju, ljudska prava i vladavinu prava.

Ovu priliku iskoristila je i da ukaže na činjenicu da, iako je Vlada Srbije formalno usvojila Strategiju razvoja veštačke inteligencije koja prepoznaje rizike po ljudska prava u ovoj oblasti, to ni na koji način nije preslikano u zakone koje usvaja srpski parlament. Primenom Zakona o socijalnoj karti od 2021. godine oko 44.000 ljudi lišeno je prava na novčanu socijalnu pomoć, a primenom algoritma koji sistem socijalne pomoći koristi u potpunosti je dehumanizovan. Zbog toga, kao i zbog prekomerne upotrebe podataka o ličnosti, Inicijativa A11 podnela je 2022. godine inicijativu za ocenu ustavnosti ovog zakona, a predlog Ustavnom sudu podnelo je i 48 poslanika i poslanica 2023. godine, među kojima i ceo poslanički klub Zeleno-levog fronta. Do danas, Ustavni sud se nije oglasio o ovom predlogu.

Ceo govor u originalu:

Distinguished colleagues, my name is Jelena Jerinić and it is an honor to address you today as a Member of the Serbian Parliament, as this is my first time as a delegate to the IPU.

I commend this balanced and well-prepared draft resolution, especially its particular attention to the position of women and girls since AI often relies on data sets distorted by gender data gaps.

The Serbian Government adopted a five-year Strategy for the Development of AI in 2019, mainly aiming at economic growth, advancement of public service provision, and improvement of scientific research and leans on the EU’s 2018 strategy „Artificial Intelligence for Europe”.

Although the Strategy mentions human rights concerns, as well as envisages the adoption of ethical guidelines for trustworthy AI, we are yet to see these concerns mirrored in actual legislation passed in the Serbian Parliament, especially that affecting the most vulnerable groups in our society. According to the most recent official data the at-risk-of-poverty rate in Serbia is 20%, while children are still more likely to live in poverty than any other age group.

In 2021 the Serbian Parliament passed the Law on the Social Card, introducing a centralised electronic record of the social and economic status of applicants and beneficiaries of social welfare aid. Since the law entered into force, some 44.000 beneficiaries have been excluded from the social welfare system.

Human rights activists claim that the new system dehumanizes the social welfare application process, by introducing the use of an algorithm determining the eligibility of applicants and that instead of making the welfare system fairer and more transparent, this law is doing the exact opposite.

Moreover, the system processes around 130 different types of data on individuals, automatically collecting them from other registers handled by public authorities.

For these reasons, an initiative was submitted to the Serbian Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality of this law in 2022, followed by a formal request signed by 48 MPs, including myself, in 2023. Even though the Court is obliged to initiate a review procedure upon request of MPs, this is yet to happen.

Similar to many others, Serbia obviously has a long path ahead in this field and I sincerely hope that the work of the IPU can serve as guidance in future legislative work.