Taking Free Speech Seriously: The Right to Advocate Secession in Hong Kong
Tony Chung, an advocate of Hong Kong independence, has been charged with secession and conspiring to publish seditious content under the NSL, and consequently denied bail. This blog post compares...
Jammu and Kashmir Media Policy 2020: A Veil Covering Freedoms
Through an order dated 15th May 2020, the Jammu and Kashmir Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) issued a revised Media Policy 2020 (hereinafter “the Policy”). The Media Policy...
Right to Protest v. Convenience of the Public – The Indian Supreme Court’s Decision on Shaheen Bagh Anti-CAA Protests
On 7 October 2020, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India held that the right to protest guaranteed under the Constitution of India cannot be exercised at public...
Unprecedented onslaught on activists and human rights defenders in Belarus
News stories emerging from Belarus resemble a gruesome shopping list of human rights abuses. Authorities have systematically violated the right to freedom of expression, freedom from torture, freedom of assembly,...
Upsetting the ‘apple’ cart: the latest onslaught on press freedom in Hong Kong
The press is always the first casualty of a new despotism. On 10 August 2020, Jimmy Lai, founder of the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, was arrested in Hong Kong –...
Is the prohibition and criminalisation of hate speech in South Africa constitutional?
South Africa celebrates more than twenty years of democracy based on democratic values, social justice, and protecting human rights. Despite this, racial tension and hate speech occurs with alarming frequency....
Supreme Court of Pakistan grants federal government the power to arbitrarily restrict mobile services
The federal government of Pakistan often issues directions to suspend cellular mobile services, ostensibly for reasons of national security. Mobile services (2G/3G/4G/LTE) are usually ordered to be suspended on specified...
Covid-19 and the Indian Supreme Court’s refusal to lift internet restrictions in Kashmir
The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir had passed an order to restrict the internet speed in the entire Union Territory to 2G. On 11th May 2020, the Indian Supreme...
COVID-19 and the Digital Divide in Indian Island-territories
The lack of access to high speed internet within Indian island territories is a violation of digital equality, and a host of connected rights. This has been further exacerbated during...
National Security and Constitutional Rights: Recent Developments in Hong Kong
The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (the “Law”) aims to safeguard national security by criminalising activities capable...
Brazil’s ‘fake news’ bill threatens to harm internet freedom and individual rights
The Brazilian Senate approved a bill to fight fake news on 30 June 2020. The bill now goes to the lower house and will need the President’s approval afterwards. This...
Freedom of Expression and Information in the Coronavirus Era
As 1/3 of the global population faces some form of lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has issued a statement reiterating...
