Case Law, Strasbourg: ATV ZRT v. Hungary: a missed opportunity to address Hungary’s oppressive Media Act – Nina de Puy Kamp

20 05 2020

Hungary’s Media Act 2010 (the Act) garnered much criticism for its chilling effects on free speech (UN, OSCE, EU, HRW).  The Act establishes a media regulator (appointed by the ruling party) to inter alia prohibit and impose fines for ‘imbalanced coverage’ and restrict non-disclosure rights of journalistic sources. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Freedom of expression, Human Rights

Strasbourg’s subtle approach of online media platforms’ liability for user-generated content since the ‘Delfi Oracle’ – Dirk Voorhoof

14 04 2020

On 18 June 2015, Strasbourg Observers published my blog post ‘Delfi AS v. Estonia: Grand Chamber confirms liability of online news portal for offensive comments posted by its readers’. The post appeared on Inforrm the following day. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Freedom of expression, Human Rights, Social Media

Case Law, Strasbourg: Studio Monitori v. Georgia: access to public documents must be ‘instrumental’ for the right to freedom of expression – Dirk Voorhoof and Ronan Ó Fathaigh

28 03 2020

In the case of Studio Monitori and Others v. Georgia the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in its judgment of 30 January 2020 confirmed that the right to freedom of expression and information as guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) can only be invoked in order to obtain access to public documents when a set of conditions are fulfilled. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Caselaw, Freedom of expression, Freedom of Information, Human Rights

Case Law, Strasbourg: Magyar Kétfarkú Kutya Párt (MKKP) v. Hungary: Technology meets freedom of expression and the rule of law in an electoral context – Petra Gyöngyi

25 03 2020

On 20 January 2020, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rendered a final decision in the case of Magyar Kétfarkú Kutya Párt (MKKP) v Hungary. Read the rest of this entry »


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Case Law, Strasbourg: Beizaras and Levickas v Lithuania, A picture of a same-sex kiss on Facebook wreaks havoc – Ingrida Milkaite

19 02 2020

Two young men publicly posted a photograph of themselves kissing on Facebook. The post ‘went viral’ and attracted around 800 comments, most of which were hateful. Some of the comments featured suggestions to burn, exterminate, hang, beat, castrate, and kill the two men as well as gay people in general. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Human Rights, Privacy

Case Law, Strasbourg: Tagiyev and Huseynov v. Azerbaijan, Journalist and editor’s conviction for incitement to religious hatred violated Article 10 – Ronan Ó Fathaigh and Dirk Voorhoof

23 12 2019

In Tagiyev and Huseynov v. Azerbaijan, the European Court of Human Rights unanimously held that the conviction and imprisonment of Azerbaijani journalist Rafig Nazir oglu Tagiyev, and editor Samir Sadagat oglu Huseynov, for incitement to religious hatred, violated their right to freedom of expression under Article 10 ECHR. Read the rest of this entry »


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Case Law, Strasbourg: Pryanishnikov v. Russia: Refusal to grant a licence for the reproduction of erotic material violated Article 10 – Argyro Chatzinikolaou

29 11 2019

In Pryanishnikov v Russia ([2019] ECHR 614), a case concerning the authorities’ refusal to grant the applicant a film reproduction license, the European Court of Human Rights found a violation of the right to freedom of expression, as the only reason advanced by the domestic courts for the refusal of the relevant license had been based on mere suspicions rather than findings of fact. Read the rest of this entry »


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Case Law, Strasbourg: Szurovecz v. Hungary, Denying journalist access to asylum-seeker ‘reception centre’ violated Article 10 – Dirk Voorhoof and Ronan Ó Fathaigh

6 11 2019

In Szurovecz v. Hungary, the European Court of Human Rights has held that a refusal to grant a journalist access to an asylum-seeker ‘reception centre’ in Hungary violated his right to freedom of expression under Article 10 ECHR. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Freedom of expression, Human Rights, Journalism

Case Law, Strasbourg: Gürbüz and Bayar v. Turkey, Dangerous “triple pirouette” to find criminal prosecution for media coverage of PKK statements did not violate Article 10 – Ronan Ó Fathaigh and Dirk Voorhoof

17 10 2019

The European Court’s Second Section recently found that criminal proceedings against the owner and the editor of a newspaper for having published statements by the leader of a terrorist organisation were justified and did not violate the right to freedom of expression. Read the rest of this entry »


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Case Law, Strasbourg: Brzeziński v. Poland: Fine over ‘false’ information during election campaign violated Article 10 – Ronan Ó Fathaigh

16 08 2019

On 25 July 2019, the European Court of Human Rights delivered an important judgment in Brzeziński v. Poland, (available only in French) concerning a provision in Poland’s election law which allows a court, within 24 hours, to consider whether ‘untrue information’ has been published, and to issue an order prohibiting its further distribution. Read the rest of this entry »


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