Censorship of street art in Colombia: the MOVICE mural and the ‘false positives’ scandal
To celebrate our 15th anniversary, we look back at some of the cases we have worked on that have had positive outcomes for freedom of expression. To start with, we are highlighting the landmark MOVICE mural case, in which the Colombian Constitutional Court ruled in favour of justice and human rights. The ‘false positives’ scandal […]
Media Defence intervenes at ECtHR in case concerning costs regime in English defamation cases
Media Defence has submitted a third party intervention at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case of Malkiewicz and others v UK. The case relates to a defamation action brought against the applicants over an article published in a Polish language newspaper based in London. The proceedings lasted around six years, and went […]
The “Misuse” of the judicial system to attack freedom of expression
UNESCO has released a new report on “The “misuse” of the judicial system to attack freedom of expression”. The report takes an in-depth look at the patterns and challenges surrounding the rise of abusive litigation, and makes a number of recommendations. To mark its release, we explore our own experience tackling legal threats to freedom […]
Emilio Palacio Urrutia v Ecuador: The judgment paving the way for anti-SLAPP regulations in the Americas
This month at Media Defence, we focus on Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, also known as SLAPPs. SLAPPs are a form of legal harassment that have the purpose of driving information that is in the public interest into the darkness. These types of cases – aiming to silence speech on matters of public interest – […]
Media Defence files four cases at the ECtHR concerning use of Pegasus spyware by the Azerbaijan government
Media Defence, with Azeri lawyers Zibeyda Sadigova and Elchin Sadigov, has filed four cases at the European Court of Human Rights concerning the use of Pegasus spyware by the Azerbaijan government. Once a mobile device is infected, the spyware, developed by NSO Group, a cyber-arms company based in Israel, and sold exclusively to governments around […]
Judgment: ECOWAS Court finds Nigeria violated freedom of expression with Twitter blocking
On 14 July 2022, the ECOWAS Court handed down an important decision for freedom of expression and digital rights. It found that Nigeria, by blocking access to Twitter, violated the rights of the Plaintiffs: five Nigerian NGOs and four journalists. The ECOWAS Court ordered Nigeria to put in place a legal framework that is consistent […]
Special Call: Grants for Strategic Litigation in Asia-Pacific
In partnership with the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, we’re calling for applications from lawyers and organisations based in the Asia-Pacific region for grants to fund strategic litigation related to media freedom. Context As part of our work to help build a strong global legal defence network for independent media, we fund strategic litigation. This […]
Strasbourg court finds Russia’s ‘foreign agent’ law unlawful
The European Court of Human Rights has handed down its long-awaited judgment in the case of Ecodefence and others v Russia. The Court considered over 60 separate challenges brought by NGOs against Russia’s foreign agent laws. One of the challenges was brought by our partner organisation Mass Media Defence Centre. Media Defence submitted a third-party […]
Liste de lecture: Une introduction aux litiges dans les mécanismes régionaux en Afrique
À Media Defence, nous avons développé un centre de ressources avec de nombreuses ressources sur les droits numériques. Le Hub couvre dix thèmes relatifs aux droits numériques, tels que la diffamation, la vie privée et les restrictions aux contenus en ligne. Dans ce blog, nous avons rassemblé quelques ressources pour vous aider à en savoir […]
Juan Pablo Barrientos: Challenging the Catholic Church’s secrecy on sexual abuse in Colombia
Juan Pablo Barrientos In 2016, journalist Juan Pablo Barrientos became inspired by the story of the Boston Globe’s investigative unit, Spotlight. Back in 2001, Spotlight had conducted a deep investigation into sexual abuse within the Catholic Church in Massachusetts, leading to further investigations in different parts of the world. Barrientos decided to perform the same […]
Media Defence and EFF intervene in Sanchez v France
Media Defence and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) have intervened in a case at the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR, which concerns online users being held liable for third party comments. In Sanchez v France a French politician was charged with incitement to hatred on religious grounds following comments posted on the ‘wall’ of his Facebook account […]
Judgment in Moya Chacón vs Costa Rica
In February 2022, we intervened in the case of Moya Chacón vs. Costa Rica. FLIP, El Veinte and Media Defence submitted a joint amicus brief to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (the Court). The Court will assess whether a civil penalty against two journalists violated their freedom of expression. The case Ronald Moya Chacón […]