South Africa the Model? – A Comparative Analysis of Hate Speech Jurisprudence of South Africa and The European Court of Human Rights Abstract We compare the handling of hate speech by the European Court of Human Rights and the highest courts of South Africa: The latter, it turns out, adopts a more robust and well-articulated […]
Thoughts on the DSA: Challenges, Ideas and the Way Forward through International Human Rights Law Abstract National and regional legislative measures/proposals that dramatically enhance platform liability for content developed by users such as the German Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG) and the EU’s proposed Digital Services Act (DSA) place free speech at risk and potentially shrink […]
Published iu International Journal for the Semiotics of Law – Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique (2022) by Natalie Alkiviadou Abstract This paper assesses the extent to which enhancing a penalty for hate crimes is a necessity. It conducts its analysis by looking at the theoretical justifications for and against such enhancement and also the impact of […]
Across the globe, governments are scrambling to regulate content on social media to limit various (contentious) categories such as disinformation and hate speech. In many cases, measures include so-called intermediary liability laws that oblige platforms to remove illegal or even “harmful” content once they are notified. In Europe, this trend was kick-started by Germany´s Network […]
Today Jacob Mchangama’s new book Free Speech – A History from Socrates to Social Media is published The book is published by the American Basic Books publisher and can be purchased as a physical book, e-book and audiobook. If you want to follow reviews, interviews, articles, events and podcasts in connection with the release, keep […]
Read the report (Sorry, only in Danish) Summary of the report This report investigates the extent of illegal comments on selected Danish Facebook pages. On the basis of a representative sample, the report estimates that one out of 15,000 comments on Danish Facebook pages constitutes a hate crime. In particular, a representative segment of 63 […]
A Framework of First Reference – Decoding a Human Rights Approach to content moderation on social media SUMMARY 4.66 billion people have Internet access, and 4.20 billion are active social media users. Despite the unprecedented scale and ease with which information and opinions are shared globally, Internet freedom is seen more and more as both […]
Our contribution to the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expressions report on disinformation. Access here.
Justitia’s executive director Jacob Mchangama has contributed with a chapter to the book “Threats to free speech in the 21st century” Read the the chapter: A history of laws on hate and abuse (PDF) About the book: SUMMARY Free speech is, with free trade, freedom of enterprise and security of property, one of the key […]
Abstract In Handyside v. The United Kingdom, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held that the right to freedom of expression, as provided for in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects not only expressions that are favorably received but also those that ‘offend, shock or disturb’. 1 Yet, the Court has since developed […]