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Nikhil Purohit - 2nd June 2020
The French National Assembly passed a law (‘Avia law’) in order to curb the growth of hate speech on the internet. Although a draft of the law was first tabled in 2019, it was met with several criticisms [see, here and here], but in the light of the pandemic the government escalated the process and […]
Gehan Gunatilleke - 16th April 2020
On 1 April 2020, Sri Lanka’s police announced that it would arrest those who disseminate false or disparaging statements about government officials combating the spread of the Covid-19 virus. In the days that followed, the government deployed speech-related criminal law with increasing regularity. On 2 April, the police announced the arrest of several persons for […]
Josep Maria Tirapu - 26th March 2020
The imprisonment and conviction of the Catalan pro-independence political leaders by the Spanish Supreme Court has been largely criticised by numerous international human rights organizations. Amnesty International, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations and Human Rights Watch, amongst others, have published reports pointing out that an overly broad interpretation of the […]
Stephanos Stavros - 27th January 2020
On 14 January 2019, the European Court of Human Rights found a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in Beizaras and Levickas v Lithuania, as a result of the Lithuanian authorities’ failure to prosecute homophobic speech targeting two young men (the applicants) who “had kissed on the Internet”. The kiss – a […]
Joseph Johnson - 25th October 2019
On 1 July 2019, the ‘Anti-False Content Bill’ was introduced in the Senate of the Philippines, seeking to ‘protect the public from the deleterious effects of false and deceiving content online’ and following in the footsteps of the Malaysian Parliament. Whilst the aim is prima facie defensible, the ‘Punishable Acts’ established by the Bill make […]
Sapan Maini-Thompson - 7th October 2019
On October 1st, the Indian Supreme Court heard petitions relating to the media and communications blackout in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) following the government’s effective abrogation of Article 370 on August 5th. The Court adjourned the cases until October 16th. The government’s telecommunications shutdown is incompatible with Article 19 of the Indian Constitution, which affirms […]
Jade Weiner - 9th September 2019
On the 27th of August 2019, the South African Constitutional Court (Court) heard its first substantive hate speech case in relation to statements made by Bongani Masuku, as Head of International Relations for the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) against the South African Jewish community. Mr Masuku made the following statements online with […]
Pranay Bhattacharya - 6th September 2019
The developments in Valleys of Jammu and Kashmir (hereinafter J&K or valley) has witnessed innumerable counts of pre-emptive internet shut downs. Amidst the recent political disruption, this is the 54th internet shut down in 2019 environing the valley. The governing Bharatiya Janata Party, the central government of India considering the fresh unrest in Kashmir has […]
Martin Kwan - 25th August 2019
In Australia, the Australian Public Service (‘APS’) is statutorily required to be ‘apolitical, performing its functions in an impartial and professional manner’ (s 10(1) of the Public Service Act 1999 (‘PSA’)). The employees of the APS are required to uphold this value and reputation ‘at all times’ (s 13(11) PSA). In the recent High Court […]
Jeremy Lam - 29th July 2019
During the recent anti-extradition movement in Hong Kong, a High Court judge participated by signing a petition against the controversial bill amendments, which was considered inappropriate by the Chief Justice. This is reminiscent of an incident involving Australian High Court Justice Michael Kirby, who called upon the government to boost funding for state schools in […]
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 […]