- “National security” is a common justifications offered by states for limiting freedom of expression by journalists, bloggers, and media organs. However, it has the potential to be relied upon to quell dissent and cover up state abuses.
- National security legislation can have wide reaching implications for media freedom and can be abused in ways that effectively avoid constitutional checks and balances.
- The Johannesburg and the Tshwane Principles, alongside the Siracusa Principles, provide guidance on the extent of the national security limitation in relation to media freedom and access to information although they only constitute non-binding international law.
- Recent instances of terrorism have caused international decision-makers to seek to better define terrorist activities in order to ensure that limitations of fundamental rights based on combatting terrorism are properly prescribed by law.
- There is a strong presumption that prior restraints on freedom of expression, even where imposed to protect national security, represent a breach of guarantees of this right, for example as set out in the precedent by the United States Supreme Court in the Pentagon Papers case.
Introduction
“National security” is a common justification offered by states for limiting freedom of expression by journalists, bloggers, and media organs. It is a legitimate ground for restricting freedom of expression in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) .
Exceptionally, the right to freedom of expression can be partly suspended — a process known as derogation — in the case of a state of emergency due to a grave, imminent security threat. However, national security is often relied upon for illegitimate reasons, such as to quell dissent or to cover up state abuses.
This module examines how national security is treated under international and regional human rights law as a ground for limiting freedom of expression.
In this module
- Introduction
- The Derogation Process under International and Regional Human Rights Treaties
- Limiting Media Freedom on the Grounds of National Security
- The Scope of National Security
- Terrorism
- Prescribed by Law
- Necessary in a Democratic Society
- Prior Restraint in National Security Cases
- Conclusion
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