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 Lawsuits against Public Participation (SLAPPs) are vexatious and meritless legal action, often taken against journalists and human rights activists who have expressed a critical opinion. They are intended to distract from the reporting, intimidate and discourage them from voicing their opinions, and divert resources from public interest reporting to defending the abusive suits. SLAPPs…
The rise of digital platforms, online news reporting and social media has fuelled disinformation and online harassment, often targeting women journalists. Disinformation refers to information that is “falsely and deliberately created to harm a person, social group, organisation or country.” Often, this takes the form of spreading lies about a journalist’s character or work and…
A unanimous judgment from the South African Constitutional Court recognised a SLAPP defence as an existing form of abuse of process under South African law that did not call for a further development of the common law.
The Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court overturned the decision of the first instance administrative court to levy a fine for the imposition of a complete suspension of mobile services and a blanket shutdown of internet services in Egypt in 2011.
In an appeal of the 2019 High Court judgment, the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa ruled that the EFF had defamed a former politician but found that the High Court had incorrectly quantified the damages to be awarded.
The High Court of Ghana ordered the National Communications Authority to stop collecting personal information from mobile phone subscribers and the government to delete data already collected within fourteen days.
The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice ordered Nigeria to repeal its cybercrime legislation which was held to violate the right to freedom of expression.
The Nairobi High Court in Kenya ruled that a provision criminalising the publication of “obscene information in electronic form” was an unjustifiable limitation of the rights to freedom of expression and to a fair trial.
The High Court of Kenya declared the offence of criminal defamation under section 194 of the Kenyan Penal Code to be unconstitutional.
The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights held that legislation which introduced an onerous regime for the accreditation of journalists infringed the rights to freedom of expression and to receive information.