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Mariana Canto - 26th October 2018
In April 2018, the agreement entered into between ADMobilize and ViaQuatro, the administrator of the yellow line of the São Paulo subway, enabled the use of a technology to collect data related to the facial expressions of public transport users. Almost four months later, on August 30, 2018, an action was filed by the Brazilian […]
Vedika Pareek and Manya Oberoi - 8th October 2018
Recently, in a series of synchronized raids carried throughout India, various human rights activists and vocal critics of the ruling government were arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), an anti-terror law. These arrests have been widely criticized for being politically motivated as they are aimed at curbing the right of free speech and […]
Ewelina U. Ochab - 13th June 2018
Universities are meant to be places where freedom of speech flourishes. The issue of free speech in universities in the UK has been recently examined by the Joint Committee on Human Rights (the Committee), a parliamentary committee consisting of representatives of both Houses of the Parliament. The Committee considered the challenges encountered by students, lecturers […]
Didon Misri - 25th April 2018
When Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory in the November 2015 elections in Myanmar, bringing an end to nearly fifty years of authoritarian military rule, many local journalists saw the result as a triumph for press freedom. Two years into the democratically elected government’s term, however, press freedom […]
Devina Srivastava - 11th April 2018
In a landmark judgment (Common Cause (A Regd. Society) v. Union of India & Anr.) delivered on 9th March, 2018, the Supreme Court of India held that a person in persistent vegetative state can opt for passive euthanasia, and that a person can execute a living will to refuse medical treatment in case of a […]
Rudra Deosthali and Chittkrishna Thakkar - 18th March 2018
The Chief Minister of Delhi recently announced his decision to install CCTV cameras in all public schools, and to provide real time access to the footage to the parents of students, through a mobile application. This decision was considered necessary to ensure the safety and security of children in school, in light of recent instances […]
Daniel Cullen - 31st January 2018
Last month, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Professor Philip Alston released a statement following his official visit to the United States. Beyond many issues around taxation, healthcare and housing, his report evaluated the impacts of new information technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), on the poorest Americans. One example given was the […]
Alex May - 13th January 2018
This post analyses Einarsson v Iceland, a defamation case in which a celebrity sued an Instagram user (‘X’) for calling them a ‘rapist’ on social media. The judgment has worrying implications for discussions of rape allegations. Background Egill Einarsson, an Icelandic media personality, was reported to the police by two women alleging rape and sexual […]
Martin Lau and Jason Ko - 8th November 2017
What, if any, are the geographical limitations of the exercise of freedom of expression? This was the question confronted by the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal in its recent decision of HKSAR v Fong Kwok Shan. The facts are as follows: Madam Fong, a social activist, attended two meetings of the Legislative Council in […]
Gaurav Mukherjee - 31st October 2017
On 5 September, the Grand Chamber (GC) of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered its judgment in Bărbulescu v. Romania (hereinafter Bărbulescu GC Judgment). The central question which confronted the GC was a determination of whether an employer’s surveillance of an employee’s workplace correspondence, without their explicit informed consent, violated their right to […]
Nidhi Singh - 5th October 2017
A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India on August 24 ruled that right to privacy is a fundamental right and is ‘intrinsic to life and liberty’ which is protected under various fundamental rights enshrined under Part III of the Indian Constitution. In a judgment as elaborate and detailed expanding to 547 pages, the […]
Jayna Kothari - 4th October 2017
2017 has been a big year for constitutional development in India. In a historic and landmark decision, a 9-judge bench of the Supreme Court pronounced that the right to privacy is a constitutional right which is not only rooted in the right to life and liberty, but also enshrined in all other fundamental rights, including […]