Each theme contains useful resources for lawyers on freedom of expression, click below to get started.
An overview of the multi-faceted right to freedom of expression and how it is protected under international law.
Understanding digital rights is crucial to protecting human rights, as little of our lives today is immune from the forces of technology and the internet.
An overview of the ways in which access to the internet and online content are restricted around the world.
An overview of freedom of expression issues in the law, including how defamation is treated in domestic and international law.
An overview of the right to privacy, data protection, and protecting freedom of expression in a digital world.
Describes the different types of cybercrimes, tracks the trends, and evaluates how cybercrimes are dealt with in international law.
An overview of hate speech and how it is dealt with both under domestic and international law.
An overview of the ways in which access to content and freedom of expression online are restricted by private actors.
An overview of false news, misinformation and propaganda, including causes and potential solutions..
An overview of the various rights and concepts which encompass digital rights.
As false news and misinformation have increased exponentially in recent times with the advent of the internet and social media platforms, it has necessitated courts, international actors and civil society to find urgent and effective responses.
View this themeWhile acknowledging the social ills may be occasioned by false news and misinformation, courts and international standards indicate that general provisions which criminalise false news and misinformation violate the right to freedom of expression. Part of the Modules on Litigating Freedom of Expression and Digital Rights in South and Southeast Asia.
The East African Court of Justice found that a Burundian law that restricted disseminating information that may be seen to be critical of the state, and forced journalists to reveal their sources was a violation of the EAC Treaty.
The Supreme Court of The Gambia held that the provisions in the Criminal Code relating to sedition and the publication of false news were constitutional.
The ECOWAS Court of Justice delivered a landmark judgment that the rights of four journalists had been violated by state authorities when security agents arbitrarily arrested, harassed and detained them under inhumane conditions, and forced them into exile for fear of persecution.
A Brazilian judge overseeing an inquiry ordered Facebook and Twitter to suspend the accounts of individuals under investigation for the “dissemination of fake news, false accusations, threats” and to block access to the accounts for all users irrespective of their location.
The Zimbabwe Supreme Court found that a law criminalising the publication of false statements was unconstitutional on the basis that in being too vague it exerted an unacceptable ‘chilling effect’ on freedom of expression.
The High Court of Zambia found that a provision of Zambia’s Penal Code that prohibited the publication of false information likely to cause public fear, violated the Constitution as it did not amount to a reasonable justification for limiting the freedom of expression.