"Media Laws on the African continent have been amended, revised and rewritten since the first edition of the SADC Media Law Handbook was first published nearly a decade ago. The reasons for new media laws range from the advent of social media to the realisation of the powers-that-be that, with new t
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echnologies, they cannot control the narrative and discussion in the way they used to do. How does one balance the need to prevent hate speech with the necessity to question and control those in power publicly as well as those opposing them? Our legal expert, Justine Limpitlaw, has taken up the challenge of analysing and scrutinising the media laws of 13 southern African countries over the past four years. We present the results to you in this three-volume-edition. The work will, in the next few years, make its way into legal offices, newsrooms and courtrooms on the continent, just as the first edition did." (Foreword)
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"The report presents a plan to guarantee up to 0.1% of GDP a year into journalism to safeguard its social function for the future. The New Deal would be a massive commitment both at the national and the international scale to ensure the social function of journalism. Christophe Deloire, chair of the
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Forum, explains: “The New Deal for Journalism consists of linking together various points that up to now have been separate, i.e. how the market is organised, the technological environment, and the work of journalists, with its working practices and ethics. This amounts to rebuilding journalism, not as the ‘media sector’, but as an essential element of freedom of opinion and expression, predicated on the right to information.” The report is structured around four fields of action: media freedom, the independence of journalism, a favourable economic climate and support for a sustainable digital model. Among the recommendations are: Ensure full transparency of media ownership as part of broader measures on transparency, anti-corruption and financial integrity; Implement initiatives allowing quality journalism to be singled out and given a comparative advantage again, such as the Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI), to restore confidence among all stakeholders; Support and adopt international measures for taxing digital platforms, such as the global minimum corporate tax rate proposed by the OECD; Develop hybrid funding for the media, combining philanthropy and public support by establishing private-public blended financial instruments for commercial and non-profit media; Secure from governments a commitment to spending 1% of official development assistance on support for independent media and their enabling environment; Establish support mechanisms allowing citizens to support media organizations of their choice (such as media vouchers, tax relief on subscriptions, or income tax designations); Structure the reflection on the impact of AI on journalism by including journalism and media as strategic sectors in national Artificial Intelligence strategies and roadmaps." (IAMCR email, 2021/6/16)
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"El Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos, desde su Oficina Regional para América del Sur, en conjunto con OBSERVACOM, una organización no gubernamental regional con sede en Montevideo, presentan este trabajo con un objetivo muy sencillo: recapitular los trabajos que se hicieron en relació
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n con el ejercicio de la libertad de expresión a través de los medios comunitarios en los últimos casi 20 años. Se trata de una recopilación oportuna: desde que por primera vez en 2002 la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos a través de su Relatoría Especial para la Libertad de Expresión se ocupara de esta cuestión en un informe temático hace ya casi 20 años, nos encontramos en este 2021 con la oportunidad histórica que la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos emita una sentencia en un caso concreto, que es el primero enviado por la Comisión sobre esta temática a la Corte. En este trabajo se recopilan entonces no sólo distintas piezas del sistema interamericano de protección de derechos humanos que han venido destacando la importancia que adquieren los medios de comunicación comunitarios para el ejercicio de la libertad de expresión, sino que además se agregan unos trabajo realizados en el marco de la UNESCO y otros que provienen de la sociedad civil, que, a lo largo de estos años, ha venido manteniendo el tema en la agenda de las discusiones sobre las reformas aún hoy vigentes, sobre legislación de comunicación audiovisual." (Prólogo)
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"Wie steht es um die Meinungsfreiheit in der Welt? Wie wirkt sich Zensur auf die Medienlandschaft eines Landes aus? Was muss man beim Teilen von Nachrichten auf Social Media beachten? Und was hat es mit Desinformation und Hate Speech auf sich? Vor allem für junge Menschen gewinnen diese Fragen imme
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r mehr an Bedeutung. Um sich in der heutigen Welt zurechtzufinden, müssen sie mit den unterschiedlichsten Medien sicher und reflektiert umgehen können – sie müssen medienkompetent sein. Die Spiele in dieser Sammlung stärken sie darin, indem sie die aktive Auseinandersetzung mit Medien in einem geschützten Raum fördern. Entstanden sind sie in der praktischen Arbeit der DW Akademie: Als Teil des Medienhauses Deutsche Welle setzen wir uns weltweit für das Recht auf freie Meinungsäußerung ein und unterstützen Menschen darin, kompetent mit Medien umzugehen. Wir laden Sie ein, die hier vorgestellten Spiele in Ihre medienpädagogische Arbeit zu integrieren und sie zu nutzen, um Fragen zu Meinungsfreiheit und Medienkompetenz zu beantworten, Wissen zu vertiefen und zum Nachdenken und Nachforschen anzuregen." (Seite 7)
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"The Global Expression Report is a global, data-informed, annual look at freedom of expression worldwide. With the benefit of data and hindsight, we take a look at 2020 – how this fundamental right fared, what the key trends were, and how global events affected its exercise. The Global Expression
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Report’s metric (the GxR Metric) tracks freedom of expression across the world. In 161 countries, 25 indicators were used to create an overall freedom of expression score for every country, on a scale of 1 to 100 which places it in an expression category. The GxR reflects not only the rights of journalists and civil society but also how much space there is for each of us – as individuals and members of organisations – to express and communicate; how free each and every person is to post online, to march, to research, and to access the information we need to participate in society and hold those with power to account. This report covers expression’s many faces: from street protest to social media posts; from the right to information to the right to express political dissent, organise, offend, or make jokes. It also looks at the right to express without fear of harassment, legal repercussions, or violence." (Page 8)
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"This report has documented the surveillance measures and practices in Kenya and Uganda during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The key trends include poor oversight over COVID-19 data collection, the lack of independent data protection authorities, the use of telecommunications data to ‘t
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rack and trace’ individuals, the surveillance of public spaces using CCTV and biometric technologies, the possession of broad search powers by medical and public health officers, and a lack of transparency and accountability by state and nonstate actors. Also, the coronavirus apps deployed in both countries presented new challenges including their limited impact and effectiveness, non-compliance of the apps with privacy standards, their inadequate privacy policies, and a lack of transparency in partnerships. While international human rights law and the constitutions in both countries guarantee the protection of the rights to privacy, data protection, and freedom of expression and information, these were not complied with during the pandemic period. The result is an overall expansion of the surveillance environment in Kenya and Uganda, leading to interference with, and infringements and violations of these rights, a situation which is worrying if left unchanged." (Conclusion, page 20)
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"This report provides the first detailed account of the raid on the Tengdro monastery and its consequences, including multiple detentions and a suicide, that has appeared in any media within or outside China. It also provides analysis of what the case shows about conditions in Tibet today and assess
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es possible reasons for the unprecedentedly harsh sentences given to three of the four monks for minor online activities and communications that are commonplace among Tibetans. Human Rights Watch has not been able to find another case in which Tibetans were convicted of major offenses and sentenced to such long terms without any information emerging to explain the severity of the punishment." (Page 2)
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"Divisive Internet regulation is fragmenting the formerly worldwide web into numerous shards that follow their own rules. The US, the EU and China are influential in shaping regulation even beyond their own jurisdictions, with consequences for human rights, particularly in Africa. This paper argues
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that, as of 2020, the Western post-9/11 security agenda and uncontrolled digital capitalism had a more detrimental impact on Internet regulation in Africa than the authoritarian Chinese concept of Internet sovereignty, seriously affecting freedom of expression and the right to privacy online. However, particularly authoritarian governments in Africa use China’s economic and political agenda to their advantage, leaving civil societies at the mercy of digitally empowered states. Direct ways of impacting Internet regulation in Africa include loans, development programs or influential laws, whereas indirect means include engagement in multilateral and multi-stakeholder fora. Besides the political and economic interests of states, the datafication agendas of ICT corporations shape Internet landscapes in Africa. An emerging data protection framework pushed by the EU has the potential to mitigate their impact. Other means of protecting human rights require a united approach by the African Union and a deconstruction of digital capitalism and dependence relations between African states and the Global North." (Abstract)
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"This chapter deals with lèse-majesté laws and their impact on the exercise of freedom of political expression and journalism from the perspective of international human rights law. In doing so, it addresses the chilling effects of the application of a particular crime of lèse-majesté, namely
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defaming a head of state”, which are emphasized with historical and current examples from Turkey: a country that exemplifies the excesses in practice. Said excesses are assessed in light of the standards of freedom of political expression set by the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, which also demonstrates the excesses in other European countries and provides a comparative outlook. In conclusion, it is inferred that the mere existence of lèse-majesté crimes puts the rule of law at risk, thereby forcing journalists and other citizens alike to resort to self-censorship in violation of international human rights law as interpreted by the regional human rights mechanism." (Abstract)
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"Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an increasingly important tool for shaping and arbitrating online information. It is increasingly, and often invisibly, used by both public authorities and private companies, and greatly impacts the way people seek, receive, impart and access information. Cou
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pled with its ability to identify, surveil and track people, AI can seriously impede on the right to freedom of expression. This #SAIFE Paper puts a spotlight on AI and freedom of expression, and provides guidance and preliminary recommendations on how to effectively safeguard free speech when AI is deployed." (Back cover)
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"In this paper, we provide recommendations for protecting freedom of expression and opinion and the right to impart and receive information to enable governments to fight the COVID-19 health crisis in a rights-respecting manner. There will be an aftermath to the COVID-19 outbreak and the measures go
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vernments put in place right now will determine what it will look like. The recommendations outlined below will help ensure that the rule of law, and the rights to freedom of expression and opinion, as well as the right to receive and to impart information, are protected throughout this crisis and in the future. Under no circumstances should any government allow people’s fundamental rights to fall victim to this pandemic." (Executive summary)
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"The Ethiopian government restricts freedom of expression on the internet and has adopted extraneous limiting measures. Most of these measures are incompatable with the African Charter. Restrictions to freedom of expression on the internet include internet shutdowns, hate speech and disinformation r
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egulation, repressive laws, and internet censorship. These limitations may (in)directly muzzle freedom of expression in Ethiopia. The writer argues that illegitimate limitations of the right fall short of the quadruple tests of limitation measures, both under the African Charter and the Ethiopian Constitution. As a result, these limitations violate individuals’ freedom of expression on the internet. Finally, the article suggests that the Ethiopian government should draw guidance from the African Commission’s 2019 Declaration on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information containing rules on limitation measures imposed on freedom of expression on the internet." (Summary)
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