Abstract
Every institutional response to disinformation and propaganda needs to be considered within the applicable legal framework for the protection of human rights. This includes the challenge of labelling the content under the freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This chapter provides an analysis from this legal perspective based on the relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights. It firstly describes the elements of freedom of expression and then deals with the labelling of disinformation within this framework. The focus is subsequently turned to the judicially inferred, permissible limitations on freedom of speech. A related issue is the underlying conflict with the freedom of the press and the media business. The final remarks concern the viability of internet service provider (co)liability for user-generated content.
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Notes
- 1.
Sunday Times v. the United Kingdom, no. 6538/74, §41, ECHR 1979; Observer and Guardian v United Kingdom, no 13585/88, §59, ECHR 1991.
- 2.
Tønsberg Blad AS and Marit Haukom v. Norway, no. 510/04, ECHR 2007; Bladet Tromsø and Stensaas v Norway, no. 21980/93, ECHR 1999.
- 3.
Markt Intern and Beermann v. Germany, no. 10572/83, ECHR 1990.
- 4.
Markt Intern and Beermann v. Germany, no. 10572/83, ECHR 1990.
- 5.
Kuhnen v. the Federal Republic of Germany (inadmissible), no. 12194/86, ECHR 1988.
- 6.
Buivids, C-345/17, §66, CJEU 2019, ECLI:EU:C:2019:122.
- 7.
Lingens v. Austria, no. 9815/82, §41, ECHR 1986.
- 8.
Handyside v. the United Kingdom, no. 5493/72, §48, ECHR 1976.
- 9.
Handyside v. the United Kingdom, no. 5493/72, §42 et seq., ECHR 1976.
- 10.
Lingens v. Austria, no. 9815/82, §34 et seq., ECHR 1986; Şener v. Turkey, no. 26680/95, §25 et seq., ECHR 2000; Thoma v. Luxembourg, no. 38432/97, §32 et seq, ECHR 2001; Maronek v. Slovakia, no. 32686/96, §46 et seq, ECHR 2001; Dichand and Others v. Austria, no. 29271/95, §25 et seq., ECHR 2002.
- 11.
Krone Verlag GmbH & Co. KG v. Austria (No. 3), no. 39069/97, §21 et seq., ECHR 2003.
- 12.
Muller and Others v. Switzerland, no. 10737/84, §26 et seq., ECHR 1988.
- 13.
Osterreichische Vereinigung zur Erhaltung, Starkung und Schaffung v. Austria, no. 39534/07, §28 et seq., ECHR 2013; Autronic AG v. Switzerland, no. 12726/87, §47, ECHR 1990.
- 14.
Muller and Others v. Switzerland, no. 10737/84, ECHR 1988.
- 15.
Steel and Others v. the United Kingdom, no. 24838/94, §88 et seq., ECHR 1998.
- 16.
Groppera Radio AG and Others v. Switzerland, no. 10890/84, ECHR 1990.
- 17.
Handyside v. the United Kingdom, no. 5493/72, ECHR 1976.
- 18.
Sürek v. Turkey (No. 3), no. 24735/94, §40, ECHR 1999.
- 19.
Vejdeland and Others v. Sweden, no. 1813/07, §8, ECHR 2012.
- 20.
PETA Deutschland v. Germany, no. 43481/09, §49, ECHR 2012.
- 21.
Glimmerveen and Haqenbeek v. the Netherlands, no. 8348/78,8406/78, ECHR 1979.
- 22.
Pavel Ivanov v. Russia, no. 35222/04, ECHR 2007.
- 23.
Roj TV A/S v. Denmark, no. 24683/14, ECHR 2018.
- 24.
Garaudy v. France, no. 65831/01, ECHR 2003.
- 25.
Norwood v. the United Kingdom, no. 23131/03, ECHR 2004.
- 26.
B.H, M.W, H.P and G.K. v. Austria, no. 12774/87, decision of the Commission 1989.
- 27.
The Sunday Times v. the United Kingdom, no. 6538/74, §46 et seq., ECHR 1979.
- 28.
Handyside v. the United Kingdom, no. 5493/72, §43–50, ECHR 1976.
- 29.
The Sunday Times v. the United Kingdom, no. 6538/74, §58 et seq., ECHR 1979.
- 30.
Steel and Morris v. the United Kingdom, no. 68416/01, ECHR 2005.
- 31.
The Sunday Times v. the United Kingdom (No. 2), no. 13166/87, §51, ECHR 1991; Observer and Guardian v. the United Kingdom, no. 13585/88, §59, ECHR 1991.
- 32.
Goodwin v. the United Kingdom, no. 17488/90, §27, ECHR 1996.
- 33.
Castells v. Spain, no. 11798/85, ECHR 1992.
- 34.
Muller and Others v. Switzerland, no. 10737/84, §28, ECHR 1988.
- 35.
Casado Coca v. Spain, no. 15450/89, §49, ECHR 1994.
- 36.
TV Vest AS & Rogaland Pensjonistparti v. Norway, no. 21132/05, §63, ECHR 2008.
- 37.
Leander v. Sweden, no. 9248/81, §50, ECHR 1987.
- 38.
Observer and Guardian v. the United Kingdom, no. 13585/88, ECHR 1991.
- 39.
Weber v. Switzerland, no. 11034/84, §49, ECHR 1990.
- 40.
Vereniging Weekblad Bluf! v. the Netherlands, no. 16616/90, §38 et seq., ECHR 1995.
- 41.
Stoll v. Switzerland, no. 69698/01, §117 et seq., ECHR 2007.
- 42.
Sürek and Ozdemir v. Turkey, no. 26682/95, §49–50, ECHR 1999.
- 43.
Sürek v. Turkey (No. 3), no. 24735/94, §40–41, ECHR 1999.
- 44.
Sürek and Ozdemir v. Turkey, no. 23927/94,24277/94, §58 et seq., ECHR 1999.
- 45.
Kuhnen v. the Federal Republic of Germany (inadmissible), no. 12194/86, ECHR 1988.
- 46.
Saszmann v. Austria (inadmissible), no. 23697/94, ECHR 1997.
- 47.
Kudeshkina v. Russia, no. 29492/05, §81, ECHR 2009.
- 48.
Leroy v. France, no. 36109/03, ECHR 2008; Stomakhin v. Russia, no. 52273/07, ECHR 2018.
- 49.
Lehideux and Isorni v. France, no. 24662/94, ECHR 1998.
- 50.
İ.A. v. Turkey, no. 42571/98, ECHR 2005.
- 51.
Otegi Mondragon v. Spain, no. 2034/07, ECHR 2011; Stern Taulats and Roura Capellera v. Spain, no. 51168/15, 51186/15, ECHR 2018.
- 52.
Pihl v. Sweden (inadmissible), no. 74742/14, ECHR 2017; Savva Terentyev v. Russia, no. 10692/09, ECHR 2018.
- 53.
Muller and Others v. Switzerland, no. 10737/84, ECHR 1988; Vereinigung Bildender Kunstler v. Austria, no. 68354/01, ECHR 2007.
- 54.
The Observer and the Guardian v. the United Kingdom, no. 13585/88, §40, ECHR 1991.
- 55.
Silver and others v. the United Kingdom, no. 5947/72, 6205/73, 7052/75, 7061/75, 7107/75, 7113/75, 7136/75, §97, ECHR 1983.
- 56.
Lingens v. Austria, no. 9815/82, §46, ECHR 1986; Oberschlick v. Austria, no. 11662/85, §63, ECHR 1991; Dichand and Others v. Austria, no. 29271/95, §42, ECHR 2002.
- 57.
Bergens Tidende and others, no. 26132/95, §57, ECHR 2000.
- 58.
Thorgeirson v. Iceland, no. 13778/88, §65, ECHR 1992.
- 59.
Sürek v. Turkey (No. 2), no. 24122/94, ECHR 1999.
- 60.
Guja v. Moldova, no. 14277/04, ECHR 2008.
- 61.
İzzettin Dogan and others v. Turkey, no. 62649/10, ECHR 2016.
- 62.
Reynolds v. Times Newspapers Limited, Highest Court of the United Kingdom 1999; Böll case, Bundesverfassungsgericht 1998; no. I. US 156/99, Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic 2000; no. 1 BvR 1531/96, Federal Constitutional Court of Germany 1998; no. 2001/19, Supreme Court of Norway 2001; no. 144/1998, Constitutional Court of Spain 1998; no. 28/1996, Constitutional Court of Spain 1996.
- 63.
Bladet Tromsø and Stensaas V. Norway, no. 21980/93, ECHR 1999.
- 64.
Dalban v. Romania, no. 28114/95, §50, ECHR 1999.
- 65.
Bladet Tromsø and Stensaas V. Norway, no. 21980/93, §59, ECHR 1999; Dalban v. Romania, no. 28114/95, §49, ECHR 1999; Thorgeirson v. Iceland, no. 13778/88, §65, ECHR 1992.
- 66.
Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (Directive on electronic commerce).
- 67.
Art. 12–14 of Directive on electronic commerce.
- 68.
Art. 14 of Directive on electronic commerce.
- 69.
Google France SARL a Google, no. C-236/08, C-237/08, C-238/08, CJEU 2010; L’Oreal and others, no. C-324/09, CJEU 2011.
- 70.
Delfi v. Estonia, no. 64569/09, §147 et seq., ECHR 2015.
- 71.
Magyar Tartalomszolgaltatok Egyesulete and Index.hu Zrt v. Hungary, no. 22947/13, §78 et seq., ECHR 2016.
- 72.
Pihl v. Sweden (inadmissible), no. 74742/14, §31, ECHR 2017.
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Kasl, F. (2021). Labelling Speech. In: Gregor, M., Mlejnková, P. (eds) Challenging Online Propaganda and Disinformation in the 21st Century. Political Campaigning and Communication. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58624-9_4
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