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Yohannes Eneyew Ayalew - 18th July 2019
In the month of June 2019, Ethiopia encountered two major internet shutdown measures following a potential fear of leakage of school exams over the internet, and high profile assassinations. This blog post briefly sheds light on internet shutdowns during the reign of successive prime ministers of Ethiopia, and its impact on free speech. Internet shutdown […]
Daniel Bill Opio - 29th May 2019
Multiple actors from totalitarian states to extremist groups have been spreading ‘fake news’ for a very long time. However, social media has accelerated the speed and the reach of fake news. While it is important to limit the spread of fake news, States should be careful and ensure that these efforts do not unwittingly violate […]
Kennedy Kariseb - 24th May 2019
The Namibian Supreme Court’s decision in Director-General of the Namibian Central Intelligence Service Another v Haufiku & Others, (Haufiku) sheds some light on the tensions between national security and fundamental human rights and freedoms, in this case, the freedom of the press. The case concerned the Namibian Central Intelligence Services’ (NCIS) appeal against the High […]
Renan Araujo - 20th May 2019
The Brazilian Supreme Court has begun a confidential inquiry, ex officio, to investigate alleged crimes against the honour of the Justices and ‘fake news’ about the Court. This inquiry is a part of a trend in which the Supreme Court has censored news reports relating corrupt conduct by its Justices and facilitated the confiscation of […]
Purushotham Kittane - 15th March 2019
The Indian Government’s Information Technology Ministry had recently invited comments on proposed amendments to the existing guidelines for intermediaries mainly governing how social networks (and other intermediaries) facilitate the flow of information. Through this, the State seeks to come down harshly on the spread of fake news. This comes to fore as the world’s largest […]
Alastair Richardson - 29th October 2018
The 37th Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland was passed by referendum on Friday, removing the word ‘blasphemous’ from Article 40.6.1i. In Article 40.6.1, the State guarantees “subject to public order and morality,” the “right of the citizens to express freely their convictions and opinions.” The Article added, however, that “the publication or utterance of […]
Esteban Russell and Leornado Orlanski - 13th September 2018
Last year, a local court of Buenos Aires ordered the blockage of Uber’s app and website nationwide in Argentina. The decision stated that Uber had to be blocked (and banned) since its drivers occupied public spaces to engage in commercial activity, and that was a misdemeanor. On June 18 this year, the decision was overturned […]