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Woods, Lorna --- "Digital freedom of expression in the EU" [2017] ELECD 982; in Douglas-Scott, Sionaidh; Hatzis, Nicholas (eds), "Research Handbook on EU Law and Human Rights" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 394

Book Title: Research Handbook on EU Law and Human Rights

Editor(s): Douglas-Scott, Sionaidh; Hatzis, Nicholas

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781782546399

Section: Chapter 18

Section Title: Digital freedom of expression in the EU

Author(s): Woods, Lorna

Number of pages: 24

Abstract/Description:

Freedom of expression has long been recognised as important both for individuals and for society and democracy. Our communications environment has altered in recent decades with the introduction of new communication platforms: satellite, cable and mobile technologies and the development of the Internet. The possibilities for accessing information and for self-expression increased, changing the nature of the speakers who can reach a mass audience and the topics talked about. This chapter examines how the existing analytical frameworks for balancing competing interests in the context of freedom of expression apply in this new environment, against a background in which international actors have emphasised that on-line rights should be the same as those in an off-line environment. There are three particular areas which deserve attention: the extent to which the audience’s right, or the right to receive, has become more important; the extent to which subject matter affects the assessment of whether any limitation on expression is justified; and the scope of positive obligations. This chapter considers these questions within the context of the European Union. Given the impact of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) on the development of the EU general principles, and the stated similarity between Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and Article 10 ECHR, it does so by outlining the principles applicable to freedom of expression principally as derived from the jurisprudence on Article 10 ECHR.