cost.6 It has strengthened the voices of billions of people around the world.7 These factors have
contributed to the internet becoming one of the primary and principal means for individuals to
exercise their right to freedom of expression.8 In Times Newspapers Ltd v. the United Kingdom
(nos. 1 and 2),9 the European Court of Human Rights recognised the crucial role the internet now
plays in facilitating the right to freedom of expression:
―In the light of its accessibility and its capacity to store and
communicate vast amounts of information, the Internet plays an
important role in enhancing the public‘s access to news and facilitating
the dissemination of information in general.‖10
As the internet is a uniquely valuable means by which individuals can exercise their right to
freedom of expression, any interference with an individual‘s or peoples‘ freedom to seek,
receive, and impart information and ideas through the internet will engage the right to freedom of
expression under Article 19(2) of the ICCPR and Article 9 of the African Charter. As has been
observed by the UN Human Rights Committee, Article 19(2) of the ICCPR explicitly states that
it protects both the form of expression adopted by an individual and the means they have used
for its dissemination, this necessarily includes ―electronic and internet-based modes of
expression.‖11
In 2011, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion
and expression affirmed the unique importance of the right of freedom of expression as the
―enabler‖ of other rights, including economic, social and cultural rights. Thus, by acting as a
catalyst for individuals to exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Internet
also facilitates the realization of a range of other human rights.12
6
See for example United Nations Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion
and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, UN Doc. A/HRC/17/27 (2011), par. 67; Article 19,
Background Paper on Freedom of Expression and Internet Regulation (2001), available at: www.goo.gl/qA95IL,
p.1.
7
UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the
Media, OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and African Commission Special Rapporteur on
Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, Joint declaration on freedom of expression and the Internet, 1
June 2011.
8
See European Court of Human Rights, Ahmet Yildirim v. Turkey, Application No. 3111/10 (18 December
2012), par. 54 (“Internet has now become one of the principal means by which individuals exercise their right to
freedom of expression and information, providing as it does essential tools for participation in activities and
discussions concerning political issues and issues of general interest.”).
9
European Court of Human Rights, Times Newspapers Ltd v. the United Kingdom (nos. 1 and 2), Application
No. 3002/03 and 23676/03 (10 March 2009).
10
11
Id., par. 27.
UN Human Rights Committee, General comment no. 34, Article 19, Freedoms of opinion and expression, 12
September 2011, UN Doc. CCPR/C/GC/34 , par. 12.
12
United Nations Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the
right to freedom of opinion and expression, UN Doc. A/HRC/17/27 (2011), par. 22.