18 March 2021
The “Pablo Hasél Case”
In Spain, the recent conviction of the rapper Pablo Hasél for ‘crimes of expression’ has aroused intense public debate. He defamed members of the Spanish royal family, which is an aggravated offence under the Spanish Penal Code, as compared to defamation of any other member of the public. The reasoning of Hasél’s sentence is, on several points, hardly compatible with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in terms of freedom of expression. It is, in fact, an overzealous application of an already problematic offence, variations of which the ECHR has already condemned. Continue reading >>
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20 January 2021
The Honor of the Spanish Flag
In a controversial decision dated 15 December 2020 and published one month later, the Spanish Constitutional Court has rejected the appeal of a member of an independentist trade union condemned for desecrating the Spanish flag during a labor protest. The ruling denies constitutional protection to such expressions even in the context of political activism. It challenges the case law of the ECHR and reduces the room for freely expressing political opinions in Spain. The ruling shows that the freedom of expression is increasingly at risk in Spain. Continue reading >>26 June 2020
On Flags, Borders and Crimes
On burning flags, freedom of opinion and why we don't care if foreigners get hit Continue reading >>
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22 June 2020
The Conviction of Maria Ressa and the Unequal Enforcement of the Truth
The cyber libel conviction of Maria Ressa and Reynaldo Santos Jr. by a regional trial court in Manila last week threw into sharp relief the manifestly different standards of accuracy enforced against citizens and the government. In a country presently governed by an administration that has allegedly been the source of widespread disinformation, private media and citizen reporters are subjected to ever stricter anti-falsehood laws. The case provokes to rethink private and state accountability for the spreading of falsehoods. Continue reading >>
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10 June 2020
Liberal Censorship
The clash between Trump and Twitter epitomises a new dynamic that raises important questions and dilemmas for the liberal order: the dilemma of liberal censorship. Continue reading >>
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03 June 2020
Repression of Freedom of Expression in Poland: Renewing support for Wojciech Sadurski
In pre-COVID19 times we drew attention (here and here) to the fact that our colleague, Professor Wojciech Sadurski, faces multiple civil and criminal cases in Poland resulting from his tweets which were critical of the ruling party. The cases were brought against him by the current government and its associates. Unfortunately, COVID19 has evidently not changed their priorities Continue reading >>28 April 2020
Cracks in India’s Constitutional Framework
India's constitutional system was conceptualized to share power (although not equally) between the Union and the 29 states alongside an institutionally grounded system of checks and balances between the parliament, the executive and the judiciary. As the world’s largest democracy proceeds into the sixth week of the nation-wide lockdown to address the outbreak of Covid-19, certain cracks in its constitutional framework have been exacerbated that have the potential to structurally alter the constitutional framework of checks and balances in the aftermath of the pandemic. Continue reading >>
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21 April 2020
State of Emergency Through the Back Door
One of the problems for Indonesia’s government when dealing with the coronavirus crisis was its non-transparent approach towards the public. Not least because of that, many people in Indonesia do not trust the government when it comes to handling the pandemic. The government’s attempt to declare the civilian emergency status which would have enabled it to control the flow of information has failed due to public opposition. A move by its police chief, however, is now trying to introduce emergency powers through the back door and in blatant disregard of a Constitutional Court ruling. Continue reading >>14 April 2020
Don’t Call a Spade a Shovel
Such concerns are, not only but to a large extent, fueled by the apparent indeterminacy of the terms employed to regulate fake news. This is true for Hungary, but also for France, Russia and several Asian countries, which have already passed fake news legislation. Uncertainties concerning the definition may have discouraged other states from passing similar laws, out of legitimate worries over freedom of expression. In fact, however, many scholars and institutions actually agree on the characteristics of the phenomenon. Continue reading >>
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14 April 2020
Abstract panic: On fake news, fear and freedom in Southeast Asia
In Southeast Asia, which is the world’s most dynamic laboratory of fake news legislation, the corona crisis has put previously created laws to practice and sparked additional legislative activity. The professed goal is to prevent public panic. Recent enforcement actions, however, demonstrate the complete irrelevance of any panic indicators. A falsehood’s panic potential is simply assumed. In short, an abstract panic threat is fought with very concrete measures: Arrests and criminal prosecutions. Cases from across Southeast Asia prove the trend, whereas two decisions in Singapore deserve particular attention. Continue reading >>
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