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.

Following US President Donald Trump’s freeze of US foreign aid, global media landed in chaos. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) estimates the scale of damage: the US Agency for International Development (USAID) supports independent media in more than 30 countries, funding thousands of journalists, including those exiled – from Iran, Belarus, Russia – or those reporting in extreme crises – 9 out of 10 Ukrainian media. Citing the 2025 foreign aid budget, RSF writes the US Congress allocated $268,376,000 for “independent media and the free flow of information.”

“The tragic irony is that [the American aid funding freeze] will create a vacuum that plays into the hands of propagandists and authoritarian states,” says Clayton Weimers, Executive Director at RSF USA.

And authoritarian states waste no time. For independent journalists in Türkiye, the past weeks have brought scores of arrests, detentions, prison sentences, and new investigations. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports that on January 28, a court in Diyarbakır sentenced Kurdish journalist Safiye Alagaş to six years in prison on terrorism charges. CPJ also issued an alert over the January 29 arrest of Suat Toktaş, Editor-in-Chief of Halk TV, and the detaining of other Halk TV staff members. Women Press Freedom has called for the release of recently detained Medya Haber journalist Eylem Babayiğit and ETHA reporter Züleyha Müldür.

Those are far from all the journalists affected. In a joint appeal, the International Press Institute and over forty organizations and media outlets reconstruct the January timeline of press freedom violations in Türkiye, spotlighting a new censorship tool – “judicial control measures,” which include travel bans, house arrests, police station check-ins, and other restrictions. “These measures […] are increasingly being weaponized to create a chilling effect on press freedom,” the letter states.

In a recent report for the BİA Media Monitoring, Erol Önderoğlu describes 2024 as a “living hell” for journalists in Türkiye: at least ten reporters were imprisoned, 57 were detained and then released under judicial control measures, access to more than three thousand journalistic materials was blocked, with three broadcast bans imposed, and the Radio and Television Supreme Council revoked the license of Açık Radyo.

The cases we bring to you this week deal with press freedom, reputation, privacy, and LGBTQ+ rights. The High Court of Kerala, India, held that media reporting that skews public perceptions or undermines judicial integrity violates constitutional principles. The ECtHR ruled that by failing to ensure the uninterrupted and safe conduct of an annual international LGBT film festival, Russia violated the right to freedom of expression. In a case concerning Portugal, the ECtHR prioritized the right to privacy of politicians over a journalist’s right to publish information obtained in the context of criminal proceedings.

Image credit: #FreeTurkeyJournalists, International Press Institute

India
Dejo Kappan v. Deccan Herald
Decision Date: November 7, 2024
The High Court of Kerala held that the media’s right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) is not absolute and must be balanced against the individual’s right to dignity and reputation under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The Court recognized the media’s critical role in democracy but emphasized its duty to provide accurate and contextually rich reporting, especially regarding criminal investigations and pending adjudications. Highlighting the risks of “trial by media,” the Court stressed that reporting that skews public perceptions or undermines judicial integrity violates constitutional principles. Adopting a double proportionality test, the Court established that while the media enjoys the right to report, this right is limited by constitutional values and cannot infringe on others’ rights or constitutional morality. It mandated that the media refrain from declaring guilt or innocence before judicial determinations and upheld the individual’s right to seek remedies for breaches of dignity or reputation caused by irresponsible journalism.

European Court of Human Rights
Side By Side International Film Festival v. Russia
Decision Date: December 17, 2024
The Third Section of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that the Russian Federation violated Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which guarantees the right to freedom of expression, by failing to ensure the uninterrupted and safe conduct of the annual international LGBT film festival organized by the applicant company, Side by Side International Film Festival. The festival was repeatedly disrupted between 2016 and 2020 due to false bomb threats and other security incidents, which the authorities failed to address adequately. Additionally, in 2020, the festival was suspended under COVID-19 restrictions, which the applicants argued were disproportionate. The Court held that the authorities’ actions and omissions, including deficient investigations into the bomb threats and failure to implement effective measures against repeated disruptions, constituted a breach of their positive obligations under Article 10. It emphasized that such disruptions—and the lack of comprehensive state action—created a climate of impunity, undermining the freedom of expression of the festival organizers and participants. The Court awarded the applicant company €7,500 in non-pecuniary damages.

Ferreira e Castro da Costa Laranjo v. Portugal
Decision Date: November 5, 2024
The Fourth Section of the European Court of Human Rights dismissed a complaint brought by a journalist regarding his conviction for publishing an article based on a taped telephone conversation between two politicians without their consent. The article, published in 2010, detailed a private exchange between A.V., a former Minister, and E.E., a Member of the European Parliament, obtained during high-profile criminal proceedings. Domestic courts found that the journalist violated the politicians’ right to privacy, as the conversation was personal and lacked significant public interest, imposing a €1,000 fine. The Lisbon Court of Appeal upheld the conviction, ruling that freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights did not outweigh the privacy rights under Article 8. The European Court unanimously declared the journalist’s application inadmissible, affirming that the domestic courts had struck a fair balance between the conflicting rights. The Court emphasized that the publication was not in the public interest and served primarily to satisfy readers’ curiosity, deeming the interference with the journalist’s freedom of expression proportionate and justified.

●  Armenia: ILGA-Europe and TGEU Celebrate the ECtHR Judgement Upholding the Rights of Victims of Homophobic and Transphobic Hate Speech. The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association (ILGA) in Europe and Transgender Europe (TGEU) welcome the January 7, 2025, ruling of the ECtHR in Minasyan and Others v. Armenia. The Court ruled that Armenia failed to defend the applicants – victims of homophobic and transphobic hate speech – from unjustified interference with their private life (Article 8 of the Convention) and from discrimination (Article 14). The case concerned newspaper articles, published in 2014, about the applicants’ comments that challenged the statements of the Armenian Eurovision Song jury members critical of Conchita Wurst, the 2014 Eurovision Contest winner. The Court held that those articles propagated “hatred, hostility, and discrimination against a minority, in this case, the LGBT community, […] one of the main targets of widespread hostility, hate speech, and hate‑motivated violence in the country.”

● Russia: Intensifying Crackdown on the LGBTQ+ Rights. Meduza, an independent Russian media outlet, reports that in the period spanning 2023 and the first half of 2024, Russian courts issued 188 fines amounting to almost 30 million rubles (around $277,000) for “propaganda of non-traditional relationships, gender transition, and pedophilia.” That is, during the 18 months since President Vladimir Putin signed the law imposing fines for such “propaganda,” 188 individuals and legal entities were targeted. In a separate – and much more disturbing – case, Andrei Kotov, who faced “LGBT extremism” charges on grounds of running a travel agency allegedly aimed at gay men, died in custody in Moscow this past December. Kotov had denied the allegations against him and reported severe beatings. In November 2023, the Russian Supreme Court banned the “international LGBT movement” as an “extremist organization.”

● UK: The Jimmy Lai Bill Could Save British Journalists Abroad. ARTICLE 19 underscores the importance of the “Jimmy Lai Bill” presented before the British Parliament last month: the Bill aims to establish guaranteed consular access for British journalists detained abroad. Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and the founder of Apple Daily, has been in custody since 2020, facing life-long imprisonment. Lai is being denied consular access, and he is not alone. ARTICLE 19 argues, “[The Bill] sends a clear message: the UK is committed to protecting its journalists and citizens abroad [… and] could also inspire similar actions by other democracies, creating a global movement to reinforce consular rights and media freedom.” This report, published by the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute in 2020, adds to the argument: consular assistance is a tool to protect journalists at risk abroad.

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

Hashtag Palestine 2024: The War on Gaza, Digital Rights Violations, and Weaponization of AI, by Muhammad Qa’adan. The report, published annually by 7amleh – The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media, documents systemic violations of Palestinians’ digital rights – violations amplified by the 15-month Israel-Gaza war. What roles do Israeli authorities and social media companies play in restricting digital spaces for Palestinians? From hateful and discriminatory content and surveillance systems to the militarization of AI and large-scale damage to communication infrastructure, the report surveys the impact on freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, right to privacy, and right to internet and information access.

● Job Vacancy: Director, Information Security at HRW. Human Rights Watch (HRW) is hiring a Director of Information Security, who will lead the organization’s efforts to ensure robust digital security. The role will involve “safeguarding HRW’s ability to investigate abuses, expose facts, and advocate for human rights by maintaining a secure digital environment in over 45 countries.” Multiple locations could be considered. The deadline is February 27. Learn more and apply here.

● Call for Proposals: Strengthening Independent Public Interest Journalism in Europe. Civitates, a pooled philanthropic fund set up to tackle Europe’s democratic decline, will support up to eight independent public interest media (based in Hungary, Poland, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Slovakia, or Croatia) by awarding a grant of maximum €160,000 for two years. Find out more here. Submit your application by March 2 through the Network of European Foundation’s Optimy portal.

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