Free Speech and Censorship Around the Globe

564 Pages·2014·11.98 MB·English

by  Péter Molnár (editor)

ABOUT THE EDITOR “Freedom of speech is a universal right. This book discusses the Free Speech and Censorship around the
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understanding and implementation of this right in all continents, instead of EDITED BY PÉTER MOLNÁR Globe contains stories about how
Péter Molnár has taught at CEU since the typical focus on the countries whose free speech jurisprudence is best R imagination and rational thinking in wildly
2007, and also taught at: Journalism known. Following his globally comparative co-edited book on “hate speech,” E different cultures capture, imagine, and
School at UC Berkeley, Cardozo School of Péter Molnár stimulates a new conversation on a wide variety of speech conceptualize what freedom of speech
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Law and Columbia Law School. He protections and restrictions, with an exceptionally diverse range of means. This book treats the reader not as
co-edited The Content and Context of viewpoints from many countries. This book is the ticket for an exciting free a tourist, but as a traveler. It does not stop
speech journey around the world.” S
Hate Speech – Rethinking Regulation at every famous tourist site that have been
— Nadine Strossen
and Responses (Cambridge University P the most visited. Instead, it goes up many
Professor, New York Law School,
Press, 2012). He was member of Former President, American Civil Liberties Union (1991–2008) E side streets. It provides an opportunity for
Hungarian Parliament (1990–1998), of curious people who would like to
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Hungarian Radio-Television Board`s “Péter Molnár has put together another extremely informative and wide understand whether free speech can be
Complaint Commission (2001–2010), ranging collection of essays, covering many countries and themes. A C contextual to take a journey of exploration.
and of European Citizen Initiative for notable one is the spread of access to information, pioneered in It draws a map of the concepts and
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Media Pluralism`s Citizens Committee. countries beyond the traditional West. This is altogether a most valuable contexts of free speech in the second
He co-drafted the Initiative`s proposal, resource.” decade of the 21st century.
and the 1996 Hungarian media law, and A
— Timothy Garton Ash
drafted the Budapest Declaration for Free N 1989 and 2011 are only two recent turning
Professor of European Studies in the University of Oxford,
Speech on the Internet. He was D points when freedom of speech and
Isaiah Berlin Professorial Fellow at St Antony’s College, Oxford,

legislative advisor, Fulbright Fellow, and and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University C freedom of the press emerged, or at least
Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard University. E powerful efforts were made to support
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In 1989, he accepted Rafto Prize for “A comprehensive and valuable collection of fascinating articles on the their emergence, although disheartening
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human rights for Fidesz, and for Rafto importance and limits of free speech. It concentrates both on individual O backlashes followed in several countries.
Foundation, he “represents the liberal countries and their common problems, and takes account of the R The book also tells many other free speech
spirit that was awarded.” The play from challenges posed by new technological advances. A most welcome and S narratives that emerged, or evolved
his novel, Searchers, won best alternative timely addition to the literature on the subject.” H outside the frames of 1989 and 2011, also
— Bhikhu Parekh I
and independent play awards in Hungary. P with several troublesome repercussions.
University of Westminster and House of Lords
He responds to “hate speech” in a A Reborn restrictions to free speech—as
number of ways, including his radio show R have taken place, for example, in some
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on Radio Tilos (Radio Forbidden); his Central European University Press Central European and East European
U
slam poetry in Bergen, Budapest, New Budapest – New York countries, such as the backlash in
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York and Oslo; and as director and an Sales and information: [email protected] D Hungary that received broad international
actor of the “Hate Speech” Monologues Website: http://www.ceupress.com attention—make the critical assessments
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at CEU. ISBN 978-963-386-056-4 H presented in this volume especially timely.
E Comparative studies must help to avoid

G such backwards steps and to create
L enabling environments needed by any
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culture in order to develop and sustain the
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spirit and practices of freedom of speech.
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cover design by:
INDIANA DESIGN
FREE SPEECH AND CENSORSHIP
AROUND THE GLOBE
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FREE SPEECH
AND CENSORSHIP
AROUND
THE GLOBE
Edited by
Péter Molnár
Central European University Press
Budapest–New York
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© 2015 Péter Molnár
Published in 2015 by
Central European University Press
An imprint of the
Central European University Limited Liability Company
Nádor utca 11, H-1051 Budapest, Hungary
Tel: [phone] or 327-3000
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.ceupress.com
224 West 57th Street, New York NY 10019, USA
Tel: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, without the permission
of the Publisher.
ISBN 978-963-386-056-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Free speech and censorship around the globe / edited by Péter Molnár.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-9633860564 (hardbound)
1. Freedom of expression. 2. World politics—1989- I. Molnár, Péter, editor.
K3253.F77 2014
323.44’3—dc23
2014016444
Printed in Hungary by
Generál Nyomda, Szeged
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Table of Contents
John Shattuck
Foreword .................................................................... ix
Péter Molnár
Introduction ................................................................ 1
PART I: OVERVIEWS
Monroe Price
1989, 2011, and Strategic Narratives ...................................... 7
Four Dangers for Freedom of Expression and the Internet:
An Interview with Frank La Rue by Péter Molnár ....................... 23
Freedom of Speech in the OSCE Countries: An Interview with
Dunja Mijatović by Péter Molnár .......................................... 37
Miklós Haraszti
Revisiting the Three Europes: Diverging Landscapes of Media
Freedom ..................................................................... 45
Dirk Voorhoof
Freedom of Expression, Media and Journalism under the European Human
Rights System: Characteristics, Developments, and Challenges ......... 59
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vi Table of Contents
Catalina Botero Marino
Jurisprudential Advances and Persistent Challenges for Freedom of
Expression in the Americas ................................................ 105
Toby Mendel
The Right to Information in Latin America .............................. 137
Freedom of Speech and Access to Information in Africa:
An Interview with Pansy Tlakula by Péter Molnár ...................... 159
Helen Darbishire
A Right Emerges: The History of the Right of Access to Information
and Its Link with Freedom of Expression ................................. 167
Sandra Coliver
The Right to Information and the Expanding Scope of Bodies
Covered by National Laws since 1989 .................................... 187
Sejal Parmar
The Rabat Plan of Action: A Critical Turning Point in International
Law on Hate Speech ....................................................... 211
Bernard Rorke
Free to Hate? Anti-Gypsyism in 21st-Century Europe .................. 233
PART II: COUNTRIES
Josep Maria Carbonell and Joan Barata Mir
The Role of the Mass Media in the Spanish Transition to Democracy
and Its Subsequent Consolidation ........................................ 255
Andrei Richter
Russia’s Supreme Court as Media Freedom Protector ................... 273
Ezra Chiloba
Access to Information in Kenya: The Law and Practice Since 1991 ..... 299
Yared Legesse Mengistu
Freedom of Expression in Ferment: A Cursory Look at the Ethiopian
Media Regime .............................................................. 317
Gilbert T. Andres
Philippines: Expanding the Contours of Free Speech in an Environment
of Impunity against Journalists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
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Table of Contents vii
Rhonda Breit
The Fragile Complexity of Protecting Freedom of Speech in Australia 359
Mei Ning Yan
The Impact of New Media on Freedom of Expression in China and the
Regulatory Responses ..................................................... 381
Sunil Abraham
Eavesdropping on the Freedom of Expression in India .................. 409
Zeynep Alemdar
The “Turkish Model” of Freedom of Speech ............................. 429
Brenda F. Abdelall
Forging Ahead: A Contemporary Review of Egyptian Press and Media
Laws ........................................................................ 445
Abderrahim Chalfaouat
Media, Freedom of Expression and Democratization in Morocco ...... 465
Richard N. Winfield and Janine Tien
The Danish Cartoons Controversy: Hate Speech Laws and Unintended
Consequences .............................................................. 481
Asma T. Uddin
The UN Defamation of Religions Resolution and Domestic Blasphemy
Laws in Pakistan: Creating a Culture of Impunity ....................... 495
Jeroen Temperman
A Right to Be Free from Religious Hatred? The Wilders Case in the
Netherlands and Beyond .................................................. 509
List of Contributors ........................................................ 531
Name Index ................................................................. 545
Subject Index ............................................................... 547
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Foreword
John Shattuck
President and Rector
Central European University
Professor of Legal Studies and International Relations
Free speech is the bedrock of democracy. It supports and gives meaning to
three building blocks of an open society.
First is the political principle that individuals and groups have the right
to decide how and by whom they should be governed, and to hold account-
able those whom they choose as their governors. This requires the freedom
to speak, to exchange information and ideas and challenge the ideas of others,
particularly those who govern, and to have access to information.
Second is the intellectual principle that truth is neither stable nor fixed,
and that much of what was once considered true often turns out to be false.
Freedom of speech is necessary to break what John Stuart Mill called the
“deep slumber of decided opinions” in order to expose them to open and rig-
orous examination in the marketplace of ideas.
Third is the cultural principle that human existence is inherently
expressive and can be enriched by freedom of expression. Like political dis-
sent, controversial cultural expression often provokes censorship from disap-
proving authorities or popular majorities. But if expression is to be free and
unfettered, speech that offends must be protected. As Evelyn Beatrice Hall
wrote in her biography of Voltaire, as an expression of Voltaire’s commitment:
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
These principles have roots in many cultures, but have been hotly con-
tested and often suppressed throughout history. Human civilization is marked
universally by the suppression of ideas and expressions that challenge the
existing order. With the advent of the printing press, for example, the Catholic
Church developed a list of prohibited books in 1559 that went through 300
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