Mentions and quotations in media
The Justitia Free Speech Index maps attitudes towards hot button issues such as regulation of social media, tolerance of “fake news”, hate speech and blasphemy. The Danish think tank’s research found that people in some countries think they have too much freedom. Justita’s Jacob Mchangama emails that there’s “strong support for uncensored free speech in the abstract,” but when […]
WESTERNERS TEND to regard freedom of speech as a universal good. However, a forthcoming report by Justitia, a Danish think-tank, demonstrates that public support for freedom of expression varies widely among countries, just as legal restraints on speech do. In many countries, particularly authoritarian regimes, people say they want fewer controls. But perhaps surprisingly, in […]
Social media platforms have become indispensable channels for public debate, and yet they are now rarely seen as an out-and-out benefit to democracy. Rather, they are more likely to be seen as transmitting fake news, conspiracy theories and hate. Fears are also growing that private tech companies are exercising too much power over – and […]
Once democratic freedoms are snatched away, can they be clawed back? David Kaye – Professor of law, University of California, Irvine; former UN Special Rapporteur on protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. Jacob Mchangama – founder and executive director of the Danish freedom of speech organisation, Justifia; host Clear and Present Danger: a history of free […]
… Even as free-speech campaigners in rich democracies offer support to those fighting censorship in poorer, less free places, their own governments are providing the would-be censors with cover, even inspiration. Germany’s Network Enforcement Law (Netzdg), passed in 2017, is meant to protect readers from fake news and hate speech by requiring social-media platforms to […]
After seemingly endless announcements heralding the arrival of the Facebook Oversight Board (FOB) over the past 18 months, the board has, at last, released its first batch of decisions… “Lawfare recently published an analysis of how long it takes legal systems to come to decisions in hate speech cases: In many places months pass, if […]
Donald Trump. The CEO of My Pillow, Inc. Some 70,000 accounts promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory that claims a Satan-worshipping cabal is secretly running the world and abusing children. The Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C. What do these all have in common? In recent weeks, they’ve all had their Twitter accounts suspended permanently or temporarily […]
On the 1st of December, Facebook Director of Governance and Global Affairs Brent Harris published a blog post announcing the first cases the newly constituted Oversight Board will consider. The announcement was a long time coming; it took Facebook two years to develop the Board, and since, both the company and the Board have been criticized for its slow progress…. […]
… Nel report, pubblicato dal think tank danese “Justitia” e intitolato non a caso “The Digital Berlin Wall”, i ricercatori Jacob Mchangama e Joelle Fiss hanno dimostrato come il NetzDG tedesco sia stato utilizzato come modello di riferimento per rafforzare e in alcuni casi “giustificare” la censura online in numerosi Paesi autoritari: negli ultimi due anni, Paesi come Venezuela, Vietnam, Russia, Bielorussia, Kenya, Singapore, Malesia, Filippine, Turchia, Mali, Cambogia e Pakistan hanno con più o […]
The Scottish Government’s Hate Crime Bill flouts international human rights law and poses a “dire risk” to freedom of expression”, according to Danish legal experts. Justitia, an international judicial think tank based in Copenhagen, warns that draft ‘stirring up hatred’ offences in Part 2 of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill breach the […]