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…
In the world of advanced methods of data collection, graphics processing and algorithms, there is wide-spread concern that the increasing prevalence of spyware and digital surveillance pose a serious threat to human rights, most notably, privacy and freedom of expression. Spyware and surveillance may take various forms, including but not limited to electronic trackers, security…
Protests can be newsworthy events, and in some cases can determine the political or social course of a country for years to come. Covering protests is therefore a crucial part of a journalist’s responsibilities, but can often be one of the most dangerous. According to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, nearly half of all press freedom…
What is photojournalism? Photojournalism is defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as “journalism in which written copy is subordinate to pictorial usually photographic presentation of news stories or in which a high proportion of pictorial presentation is used.” Photojournalism is a crucial aspect of modern reporting, and is becoming even more so in societies in which photography…
Note: this Factsheet deals with issues of a sensitive nature relating to harassment and gender-based violence. The relationship between gender and online harassment Online harassment and intimidation through text messages, phone calls or social media — often known as cyberstalking or cyber-harassment — severely restricts the enjoyment that persons have of their rights online, particularly…
Despite such strong support for the protections which should be afforded to satire and the satirist, there is little case law which deals with the subject directly – at least in the international legal sphere – other than a handful of cases heard before the ECtHR.
Defamation can be described in a number of ways – but is broadly understood as the communication of a false statement that unjustly causes harm or detriment to legal or natural person’s reputation.