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.
Strategic litigation is a key tool being used to uphold freedom of expression and to advance digital rights.
View this themeIn relation to a prisoner who had been refused access to a website containing education-related information, the European Court of Human Rights upheld the applicant’s claim of a violation of the right to freedom of expression.
The European Court of Human Rights referred for the first time to the notion of SLAPP (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) in a civil defamation suit brought by a Russian regional state body against a media company.
The European Court of Human Rights found that internet portals assume duties and responsibilities particularly in the context of offensive and vulgar comments — even if the speech is not unlawful.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights indicated that the court will adopt a flexible approach that allows anyone to file a communication for the court’s consideration, including non-victim individuals, CSOs and pressure groups.
The Johannesburg High Court in South Africa held that a defamation case brought by a former executive of a state entity constituted a SLAPP suit.
The Supreme Court of India found that intermediaries are only liable when they have received actual knowledge from a court order, or have been notified by the government, and subsequently failed to remove or disable access to the information.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights confirmed that in circumstances where it is effective and sufficient to redress the complaint, a domestic remedy may be available to a petitioner.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights held that Zimbabwe violated various rights by using force instead of seeking a Court order to stop a media outlet from operating illegally under a media registration law.
The Supreme Court of India found that freedom of speech and expression and the freedom to practice any profession or occupation over the medium of the internet enjoys constitutional protection and that suspending internet services indefinitely is impermissible.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights grappled with a violation of freedom of expression and held that laws which limit free speech must be legitimate, necessary and proportional.