Columbia Global Freedom of Expression seeks to contribute to the development of an integrated and progressive jurisprudence and understanding on freedom of expression and information around the world.  It maintains an extensive database of international case law. This is its newsletter dealing with recent developments  in the field.

Community Highlights & Recent News

● Upcoming Event – State of Silence: The Espionage Act, Politics, and Press Freedom. The Knight First Amendment Institute and Columbia Journalism School are hosting a panel discussion on the Espionage Act and the expansion of “the U.S. secrecy regime” that has impacted press freedom and political expression. The panelists – legal experts and journalists – will discuss the Espionage Act within the context of Donald Trump’s and Julian Assange’s cases, address the harms the law presents to democracy, and consider the possibility of reforming it. The panelists will also talk about Sam Lebovic’s forthcoming book State of Silence: The Espionage Act and the Rise of America’s Secrecy Regime. December 6, 2023. 5:30-7 pm ET. The event will be held in person at the World Room of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism – 2950 Broadway New York, NY 10027. Reserve your spot here.

●  Freedom of Expression Association Türkiye, EngelliWeb 2022: The Constitutional Court in the Shadow of Criminal Judgeships of Peace.The Freedom of Expression Association (“İfade Özgürlüğü Derneği – IFÖD”), based in Istanbul, released EngelliWeb’s 2022 report in English. The report’s authors are Yaman Akdeniz, a Professor at the Faculty of Law at Istanbul Bilgi University, and expert researcher Ozan Güven. An award-winning civil society initiative, EngelliWeb has been documenting Internet censorship and related judicial and administrative decisions in Türkiye since 2008. The 2022 study follows the 2018-2021 EngelliWeb reports aiming to ensure “the permanent damage caused by censorship is not completely erased from collective memory.” The study analyzes the Constitutional Court decisions and marks them as “an ineffective domestic remedy”; the report also highlights the significant increase in the number of blocked websites in Türkiye, which reached 712.558 in 2022. Read the full study here.

● Nova Scotia, Canada: Submission on the Right to Information Act.The Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) has published its Submission to the Review of Nova Scotia’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Legislation (FOIPOP Act). The Centre’s submission responds to the Nova Scotia government’s call for inputs on the FOIPOP Act assessment. The CDL welcomes the review of the Act’s legal framework, which has not seen substantial amendments since the early 1990s, except for minor changes. The Centre, however, raises concerns regarding the review committee’s composition consisting of officials only. The CDL Submission is an “assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the FOIPOP Act, with a focus on access to information (and not on those parts of the Act which deal with privacy and personal data protection).” The CDL has also provided an updated RTI Rating of Nova Scotia – “86 points out of a possible 150.” Read the full submission and its multiple recommendations here.

Decisions this Week

India
Rahul Gandhi v. Purnesh Modi
Decision Date: July 7, 2023
The High Court of Gujarat refused to stay the conviction of the Petitioner, an Indian politician Rahul Gandhi, a leader of the Indian National Congress (INC), who faced a criminal defamation charge for comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to known economic offenders during a public speech in 2019. Purnesh Modi, a member of the opposing party, filed the complaint, alleging defamation against the larger “Modi” community. The Gujarat High Court refused to stay Rahul Gandhi’s conviction, which led to his disqualification from Parliament, stating that his false statements during an election campaign, scandalizing individuals, and breaching societal norms, constituted a serious offense involving moral turpitude. The Court emphasized that as a prominent political figure, Rahul Gandhi’s remarks impacted a significant section of the public and held him accountable for exercising caution in his statements to prevent harm to specific identifiable groups. Despite arguments regarding the right to free speech, the Court affirmed the seriousness of the defamation offense, dismissing Rahul Gandhi’s plea for suspension of his conviction and urging prompt resolution of the case at the district level.

European Court of Human Rights
Case of OOO Mediafokus v. Russia
Decision Date: January 17, 2023
The Third Section of the European Court of Human Rights unanimously concluded that Russian authorities violated freedom of expression by blocking an online magazine critical of the Russian authorities. The case revolves around OOO Mediafokus, the owner of the online magazine Ezhednevnyy Zhurnal, which has been critical of Russian authorities since 2014. In March, 2014, the Prosecutor General requested to block the website, alleging “calls for extremist activities.” This prompted the creation of a new website in 2015. Despite the new website having distinct content and not existing at the time of the request, it was deemed a “mirror” and subsequently blocked in 2017. The European Court of Human Rights emphasized the lack of legal clarity in defining “mirror” websites and the absence of procedural safeguards in Russian law, concluding that the interference was not “prescribed by law.” The Court held that Russia violated Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and awarded the applicant EUR 7,500 in non-pecuniary damages.

Hong Kong
HKSAR v. Tam Tak Chi
Decision Date: December 2, 2022
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region District Court held Tam Tak-Chi, a prominent radio host and pro-democracy activist, guilty on 11 out of 14 charges, including uttering seditious words, organizing unauthorized assemblies, and inciting others to participate in unauthorized assemblies. The charges stemmed from Tam Tak-Chi’s speeches and actions criticizing the government, the National Security Law, and the Chinese Communist Party between January and July 2020. The court dismissed his challenge to the constitutionality of the sedition charges, ruling that the laws were necessary for national security. The court accepted expert testimony supporting the prosecution’s interpretation of Tam Tak-Chi’s slogans as advocating for Hong Kong’s separation from China. Despite his acquittal on disorderly conduct charges, Tam Tak-Chi was sentenced to 40 months in prison and fined HK$5,000 (approximately 640 USD) for his involvement in activities deemed seditious by the court.

Teaching Freedom of Expression Without Frontiers

This section of the newsletter features teaching materials focused on global freedom of expression which are newly uploaded on Freedom of Expression Without Frontiers.

Guidelines for regulating digital platforms: A multistakeholder approach to safeguarding freedom of expression and access to information
The Guidelines by UNESCO aim to promote freedom of expression and information access while addressing illegal and harmful content. They call for states to apply regulation in accordance with international human rights standards and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Guidelines serve as a resource for policymakers, regulatory bodies, digital platforms, and civil society in their advocacy and accountability efforts. They will inform regulatory processes for digital platforms, leading them in an open, transparent, multistakeholder, and evidence-based manner. The Guidelines will contribute to UN-wide processes, such as the Global Digital Compact, the UN Summit of the Future, and the Code of Conduct for public information integrity.

Post Scriptum

Ahead of 2024, Two Bellwether States, California and Florida, Are Establishing Laws and Policies That May Affect All Americans’ Free Expression. PEN America has released two reports titled The Florida Effect and The California Effect. The studies analyze laws and policies driving the country’s agenda on freedom of expression through the two states that often serve as America’s “legislative laboratories.”

  • The Florida Effect: How the Sunshine State is Driving the Conservative Agenda on Free Expression. The report looks at the central pieces of legislation that Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis and the state legislature have championed, many of which – “from banning drag shows and ethnic studies courses to the “Don’t Say Gay” law” – are blatant attacks on freedom of expression. Such legislative projects, as PEN America shows, influence other states in their attempts to shrink the space of free speech.
  • The California Effect: How the Golden State is Driving the Progressive Agenda on Free Expression. The report unpacks some of California’s major legislative proposals, arguments, and strategies that serve as trend-setters for legislatures in other states or at the federal level. PEN America highlights successful models that promote free expression and those that could be heavily criticized. Thus, the report reviews “what works, what doesn’t, which policies should be celebrated, which should be changed, and which should be jettisoned.”

This newsletter is reproduced with the permission of Global Freedom of Expression.  For an archive of previous newsletters, see here.