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Case law on content moderation and freedom of expression

New York: Columbia University, Global Freedom of Expression, 2nd ed. (2024), 29 pp.

Series: Special Collection of the Case Law on Freedom of Expression

"This edition of the Special Collection on the Case Law of Freedom of Expression: Case law on content moderation and freedom of expression is an update of the 2023 Special Collection on content moderation and freedom of expression. It includes cases that have been added to the database in the period from July 2023 to August 2024. These new cases include jurisprudence from Brazil, regional European courts, Germany, Japan, India, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United States of America. The cases show a variety of court decisions on content moderation in different parts of the world. In particular, many new decisions about the moderation of (health) misinformation were added to the database. Thus, a new section dedicated to claims requesting the reinstatement of content or accounts, that were removed for allegedly violating misinformation policies, was added (Section II.1.c). Certainly, content moderation reflects current tensions in society. For example, most of the misinformation cases that deal with the falsehood of objective information concern health information during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cases about wrong—and often defamatory—information about individuals are not classified as “misinformation” cases for the purposes of this paper. They are part of a more general section about the removal or reinstatement of content, considering they are at the core of what content moderation has been dealing with for decades. While the law of many jurisdictions around the world penalizes defamation to some (strongly varying) degree, the issue of whether “merely” objectively wrong information should be unlawful is more contested. Thus, the balancing exercises of courts around the world—when dealing with private content moderation decisions in this realm—provide valuable insights." (Introduction)
I. INTRODUCTION, 6
Introduction to the 2023 Collection
II. CASES AGAINST INTERMEDIARIES, 8
1. Claims to reinstate content or accounts, 9
2. Claims to remove content or accounts, 16
3. Claims for information (and the right to publish them), 22
III. CASES AGAINST PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND INSTITUTIONS, 23
IV. CASES ON STATE ENFORCEMENT OF PRIVATE CONTENT MODERATION, 25
1. Administrative proceedings, 25
2. Instruments of systemic cooperation, 26
3. Bans of services, 27
4. Must-carry obligations, 28