"The present publication has a Janus-like function. It looks back on and reflects on a highly successful series of expert meetings and related work carried out by the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media between 2014 and 2015. At the same time, it also looks forward, wondering h
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ow the regulatory, ethical, technological and market-related challenges facing Open Journalism can be overcome in the future" [...] "Open Journalism is an umbrella term that covers a variety of collaborative and cooperative forms of journalism, for instance between professional journalists and recognised experts on the topics they are covering, or between professional journalists and members of the general public. There is no fixed or authoritative definition of the term, but the notion of participation is key. The term also denotes an opening up of journalism and the recognition that a growing number of actors engage in the activity of journalism. What has changed is the nature of the relationship between journalists and the public. Journalism is no longer the preserve of professional journalists and there can be interaction with the public during all stages of the news production process." (Introduction, page 3-6)
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"The toolkit encompasses a broad variety of issues, which should be considered by judicial actors in the course of their work to protect human rights. It covers legal standards of freedom of expression according to international and regional instruments and core texts and surveys pertinent jurisprud
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ence on freedom of expression from regional and sub-regional courts or quasi-judicial bodies that deal with human rights issues. The toolkit explicates conditions under which speech can be legitimately restricted, while also giving prominence to the safety of journalists and the issue of impunity, the latter representing one of the main obstacles to guaranteeing freedom of expression and freedom of information. Finally, the toolkit also addresses recent challenges to freedom of expression on the internet, including on social media, which have become vital means for sharing information and expressing views. The question of gender representation in media content and careers, and gender-specific threats for women journalists, are also addressed." (Foreword, page 10)
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"Viewership, listenership and readership in the Sri Lankan media market is highly concentrated among a few media owners, many of whom have political affiliations. Limited access to ownership information and a number of regulatory shortcomings pose a further threat to media pluralism in the country."
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(http://www.mom-rsf.org/en/countries/sri-lanka)
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"This report maps the current landscape in respect of digital rights and online freedom of expression in East, West and Southern Africa. It looks at the trends regarding law and policy developments, as well as recent litigation, within these regions. The report focuses on 18 countries – 6 per regi
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on – and tracks the recent developments that have taken place in these countries. Part I of the report provides an overview of the litigation before the ACHPR and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Court) in respect of freedom of expression. Parts II, III and IV of the report look at the trends generally in East, West and Southern Africa respectively, as well as some of the key legal and civil society actors working on digital rights and online freedom of expression, and include a snapshot of some of the notable developments – both positive and negative – that have occurred in the 18 countries under consideration in this report, as well as reflections on opportunities and challenges for vindicating digital rights within each of the countries. Lastly, Part V considers what the next possible opportunities will be for digital rights and online freedom of expression litigation in the region." (Pages 5-6)
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"Em termo de variedade de conteúdos e formatos, há uma hegemonia quase absoluta dos modelos de negócio calcados no lucro e do entretenimento. Este tipo de conteúdo é o foco de 84% dos sites mais acessados. Apenas a Wikipedia surge como grande produtor e difusor de conteúdo, mas ainda assim de
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caráter enciclopédico e não na disputa dinâmica pelos acontecimentos. Apenas 9 dos 100 sites mais acessados (9%) são jornalísticos, sendo metade destes relacionados aos grupos Globo e Folha. Da chamada mídia “progressista”, somente dois sites estão entre os 500 mais acessados, Portal Fórum e Brasil 247 (0,4%). Nesta lista, bem como na de aplicativos, não há um veículo sequer de caráter público ou comunitário. Nos canais de YouTube, em que há a presença de novos agentes, inclusive indivíduos, o entretenimento representa 84% dos espaços analisados. A abordagem temática calcada em “comentários diversos”, visando entretenimento, e a baixíssima incidência de conteúdos educativos ou jornalísticos levanta a questão de como esses canais contribuem ou não para o debate público [...] Em uma tentativa de amarração do quadro geral, podemos arriscar dizer que, se por um lado a Internet aumentou o número de agentes na sua camada de aplicações e conteúdos em relação a outros meios, como a TV, por outro, a hegemonia das grandes plataformas e dos grandes grupos de mídia nacional problematizam de um espaço efetivamente democratizado. Ao contrário, o alcance de plataformas como Facebook e YouTube tem uma dimensão que nenhum outro agente da indústria cultural conseguiu anteriormente, mesmo que já houvesse internacionalização de diversos segmentos (como no cinema e nas programadoras de TV por assinatura)." (Sumário executivo, página 15)
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"Since 2013, Bangladesh authorities have used draconian provisions in the Information and Communication Technology Act (ICT Act) to arrest scores of people for political and social commentary critical of the current Awami League government or its leaders. Those targeted have also included journalist
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s and editors arrested for articles critical of government officials or for writing about corruption or maladministration, as well as numerous individuals arrested for allegedly offending religious sentiment or for defamation. 'No Place for Criticism' details dozens of cases since authorities amended the act in 2013 to add harsher penalties and allow the police to make arrests without warrant. Since the Cyber Tribunal was established in 2013, the police submitted 1271 charge sheets to the Cyber Tribunal in Dhaka, most of them under section 57 of the act, a particularly sweeping provision. Many detainees have been held for months without trial. A significant number of those arrested are linked to Bangladesh opposition parties and were detained following complaints to the police by members of the governing Awami League. The government has pledged to replace the ICT Act with a new law, the Digital Security Act, a draft of which is now being considered by parliament. However, the proposed new law in some respects is broader and more open to abuse than the law it seeks to replace, and it continues to violate Bangladesh’s international obligation to protect freedom of speech." (Back cover)
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"This book is the first to incorporate current academic literature on European, transnational, and international media law into a comprehensive overview intended primarily for students. It introduces the legal framework for globalised communication via mass media, and considers the transformative ef
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fect globalisation has had on domestic media law. Engaging case examples at the beginning of each chapter and questions at the end give students a clearer idea of legal problems and encourage them to think critically. A wide variety of topics - including media economics, media technology, and social norms concerning media publications - are discussed in relation to media law, and numerous references to case law and suggestions for further reading allow students to conduct independent research easily." (Back cover)
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"The prospect of a new Libyan constitution offers an opportunity for consolidated, clear and robust legal protections for freedom of expression. However, the current Constitutional Draft contains significant legal loopholes and establishes institutions of uncertain power. The failure of the Constitu
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tional Draft to adhere to international minimum standards, let alone seek to ensure best practices, means that it may ultimately further weaken human rights, including freedom of expression." (Executive summary)
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"[...] es una herramienta indispensable para operadores de justicia que tratan casos sobre la libertad de expresión. La guía, producida conjuntamente por la UNESCO y la oficina del Relator Especial para Libertad de Expresión (RELE) y escrita por Silvia Chocarro, es un mapa esencial de los estánd
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ares internacionales e incluye recomendaciones de lecturas, referencias a textos legales, ejemplos de casos y recursos útiles para ayudar a operadores de justicia a navegar en el terreno, a veces complejo, de garantizar el derecho a la libertad de expresión y acceso a la información." (www.cima.ned.org)
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"This study, which covers 121 UNESCO Member States, represents a global benchmarking of journalistic source protection in the Digital Age. It focuses on developments during the period 2007-2015. The legal frameworks that support protection of journalistic sources, at international, regional and coun
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try levels, are under significant strain in 2015. They are increasingly at risk of erosion, restriction and compromise - a development that is seen to represent a direct challenge to the established universal human rights of freedom of expression and privacy, and one that especially may constitute a threat to the sustainability of investigative journalism. In many of the countries examined in this Study, it was found that legal source protection frameworks are being actually or potentially: overridden by national security and anti-terrorism legislation; undercut by surveillance – both mass and targeted; jeopardised by mandatory data retention policies and pressure applied to third party intermediaries - like ISPs, telcos, search engines, social media platforms - to release data which risks exposing sources; outdated when it comes to regulating the collection and use of digital data, such as whether information recorded without consent is admissible in a court case against either a journalist or a source; and whether digitally stored material gathered by journalistic actors is covered by existing source protection laws." (Executive summary)
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"The idea of rules limiting concentration of media ownership is often cast by media owners as a restriction on their right to freedom of expression. Unfortunately, the behaviour of States in Latin America has often lent support to this perspective, especially when States abuse for political ends the
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ir power to provide for regulation of the media. International law has a clear answer to both of these problems. By protecting the rights of both the speaker and the listener, international law provides an alternative view of the claim that limits on media ownership are simply restrictions on freedom of expression. Instead, by promoting a plurality of voices in the public sphere, such limits enhance the right of listeners to receive a diversity of information and ideas, which is essential to the exercise of full citizenship, political participation, robust cultural expression and many other important values in society. Thus what at first blush may appear as a restriction on the expressive rights of speakers is also a form of protection for the freedom of expression rights of listeners." (Conclusion)
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"The research in these pages covers the theory around multistakeholder participation in Internet governance through a review of relevant literature. It also analyses case studies from Kenya to Brazil, South Korea, and the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), which illustrate how multistakeholder approac
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hes to Internet governance are applied in practice in diverse places and on different issues. In two of these cases, the outcome had legal repercussions that advanced the role of the Internet in terms of respect for rights; in the other two, the impact was positive for wider norms and processes." (Foreword, page 6)
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"The tension between blasphemy laws and the freedom of expression in modern times is a key area of debate within legal academia and beyond. With contributions by leading scholars, this volume compares blasphemy laws within a number of Western liberal democracies and debates the legitimacy of these l
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aws in the twenty- first century. Including comprehensive and up-to-date comparative country studies, this book considers the formulation of blasphemy bans, relevant jurisprudential interpretations, the effect on society, and the ensuing convictions and penalties where applicable. It provides a useful historical analysis by discussing the legal-political rationales behind the recent abolition of blasphemy laws in some Western states. Contributors also consider the challenges to the tenability of blasphemy laws in a selection of well- balanced theoretical chapters. This book is essential reading for scholars working within the fields of human rights law, philosophy and sociology of religion and comparative politics." (Publisher description)
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"The Companion is the first collection to bring together two distinct ways of thinking about human rights and media, including scholarship that examines media as a human right alongside that which looks at media coverage of human rights issues. This international collection of 49 newly written piece
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s thus provides a unique overview of current research in the field, while also providing historical context to help students and scholars appreciate how such developments depart from past practices. The volume examines the universal principals of freedom of expression, legal instruments, the right to know, media as a human right, and the role of media organisations and journalistic work. It is organised thematically in five parts: Communication, Expression and Human Rights; Media Performance and Human Rights: Political Processes, Media Performance and Human Rights: News and Journalism; Digital Activism, Witnessing and Human Rights; Media Representation of Human Rights: Cultural, Social and Political." (Publisher description)
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