In its judgment of 15 March 2022 in the case of OOO Memo v. Russia, the ECtHR warned for “the risks that court proceedings instituted with a view to limiting public participation bring for democracy“. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Tag: Dirk Voorhoof (Page 1 of 5)
1. – Introduction
In its judgment of 4 June 2024 in the case of Sokolovskiy v. Russia the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) dealt with the issue of religious hate speech as a criminal offence interfering with the right to freedom of expression and information under Article 10 ECHR (see also Lenis v. Greece and Tagiyev and Huseynov v. Azerbaijan). Continue reading
On 15 May 2023 in the case of Sanchez v France, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) confirmed its earlier Chamber judgment of 2 September 2021 (see Inforrm post here). The ECtHR found that the criminal conviction of a politician for failing to promptly delete hate speech, that was posted by others, from his public Facebook account, did not violate Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Continue reading
In her State of the Union on 15 September 2021, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, declared: “Media companies cannot be treated as just another business. Their independence is essential. Europe needs a law that safeguards this independence – and the Commission will deliver a Media Freedom Act in the next year.” And on 16 September 2022 the European Commission put forward a number of measures to protect freedom and pluralism in the EU by introducing its European Media Freedom Act proposal (COM2022/457). Continue reading
On 27 July 2022, in RT France v. Council, the General Court of the European Union found that the ban on RT France in the EU did not violate the right to freedom of expression and media freedom, under Article 11 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Notably, the General Court sought to apply principles from case law of the European Court of Human Rights and international human rights law. Continue reading
Shortly after the Russian military invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the European Union announced a series of sanctions to hit the Putin regime. One of these measures is the blocking in the EU of the Russian state media RT (Russia Today) and Sputnik (link). Also the transmission or facilitation of the programmes or content of RT and Sputnik is banned, while the ban also affects journalistic reporting by European media outlets. Continue reading
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has recently delivered a judgment in which, for the first time, it refers to the notion of SLAPP (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation). Continue reading
It is rare in Belgium for people who take part in the public debate, such as journalists and academics, to have to defend themselves in criminal court in a private prosecution for defamation. Three times in a row, this type of criminal procedure has recently proven to have little or no chance of success and mainly serves to legally harass the defendant. Continue reading
On 25 May 2021 the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered its long awaited judgment on bulk interception of personal data and mass surveillance by security and intelligence services in the case of Big Brother Watch and others v. the United Kingdom [2021] ECHR 439. Continue reading
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