Criminal Defamation, the Criminalisation of Expression, Media and Information Dissemination in the Digital Age (original) (raw)
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KONATE V. BURKINI FASO: AN ANALYSIS OF A LANDMARK RULING ON CRIMINAL DEFAMATION IN AFRICA
The African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights heard its first case regarding press freedom in December 2014: Konaté v. Burkina Faso. Overturning a conviction of criminal defamation against a journalist in Burkina Faso who had reported on corruption, this is a landmark decision because few courts in Africa, or in the developing world at large, rule in favor of journalists against public figures. The ruling held that: 1) a petitioner can approach the regional court before exhausting local legal remedies if the country's court system is unable, by design, to rule in the petitioner's favor; 2) the licensing of journalists violates freedom of expression; 3) custodial sentences for defamation are an impediment to free speech; and 4) public figures must tolerate more scrutiny than private individuals. Analyzing regional jurisprudence, this article finds that three main concepts have emerged as " best practices " in international defamation law: civil lawsuits should be used rather than criminal charges; truth must always be allowed as a defense for defamation; and public figures must withstand more scrutiny than private figures. Analyzing the African Court's ruling, the article finds that the Court rooted its decision in both African and international human rights bodies and instruments.
The legal and policy transfer perspective holds that due to asymmetric power relations between nations, policy diffuses from global centers of power and influence to the periphery of the international relations system. Over the years, aspects of the landmark New York Times v. Sullivan decision handed down by the United States (US) Supreme Court have diffused to Africa. This paper analyzes how law and public policy standards protecting journalists from the wrath of government officials in defamation cases have diffused from the US to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights. These African judicial bodies received, contextualized, and Africanized international defamation principles with respect to public officials. This piece also explores how four African countries—South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe—have echoed the public policies set forth in New York Times v. Sullivan in specific cases involving media defamation of powerful government officials. This development bodes well for freedom of expression in Africa, a continent that has had the unfortunate reputation of being the home of authoritarian " strong men " who've ruled over regimes of law and disorder.
THE LAW OF DEFAMATION IN TANZANIA AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
Academi.edu, 2013
""This paper presentation is about the potential understanding of the development of defamation, Cyber Defamation respectively. The paper will further assess the development of defamation (origin, meaning, types of defamation, elements and the aspect of innuendo) from traditional defamation to modern means that is Cyber Defamation (Part II). A Detail Discussion on Whether Defamation Differs from Cyber Defamation (Part III) and personal assessment will conclude the work (Part Iv). The main questions in this presentation will be; Why users of the Internet are more likely than ordinary citizens to be found publishing comments which are actionable as defamatory, and; What problems (or, looking at it from the other side of the fence, opportunities) arise if those who are the victims of defamatory comments on the net attempt to seek compensation by taking legal action . The answers to these two questions will influence at large extent as to whether defamation differs from the cyber defamation. ""
Defamation: criminalization of freedom of expression
2018
The right to Freedom of Expression, as guaranteed by the Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights, is one of the most fundamental elements for the perseverance of democracy and further development of the society. Without the right to receive, and therefore, impart information, most other rights are rendered useless. However, significance of the same degree is also afforded to the right to Private Life and Reputation, which can be found to be protected by the Article 8 of the respective Convention. This thesis will argue that particularly these two rights have to be balanced out in order to create a comprehensible law that is able to efficiently tackle defamation, while at the same time not disproportionately restrict the free flow of information and ideas. Furthermore, this thesis scrutinizes the situation in the European Union regarding defamation, addressing the overwhelming amount of member states choosing to eliminate defamation by prosecuting the press under the na...
DEFAMATION AND CONFLICT OF LAWS IN CYBERSPACE
Until the Nigerian Evidence Act 2011 was passed into law, which is about a decade after the internet went commercial globally, Nigerian law and courts were reluctant about taking cognizance of internet-generated evidence. In fact, cases involving internet matters were hardly brought before our courts because of the uncertainty of the law. With respect to defamation, things have not significantly changed today. In the build up to the 2015 election, African Independent Television (AIT), a member of Daar Communication Plc. published documentaries about some All Progressive Congress party leaders. These documentaries, which were alleged to have defamatory content, went viral on the internet, with various persons and organizations republishing it. By the extant defamation law, each republication of a defamatory material gives a new cause of action. However, when a chieftain of the party brought action in defamation to the court, only Daar Communication was sued probably because of the perceived problematic intricacies which tag with internet cases. These problematic intricacies which border on how to establish jurisdiction in online defamation cases, how to determine the choice of law that will apply to online defamation cases and how a judgment secured from online cases can be recognized and/or enforced, are the problems which this research seeks to solve. The real challenge is not actually in explaining how the above issues are resolved, rather, it is in evolving clear and certain rules that will produce certainty, clarity and uniformity in the process of resolving legal issues relating to online matters. This, in fact, is the main problem that the research attempts to solve.
MASS MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN NIGERIA: APPRAISAL OF THE LAW OF DEFAMATION
Freedom of expression is one of the fundamental rights universally recognised and protected. Indeed, the Constitutions of most countries of the world, including Nigeria, have provided expressly for the protection of this right because of its importance and relevance to the enhancement of personal liberty and democracy. The right to freedom of expression is also protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the various regional Instruments and Conventions on human rights, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. Obligations and duties are imposed on the State or its agencies and on individuals to protect and promote human rights and fundamental freedoms. However, the right to freedom of expression, like most other rights, is not absolute.
In countries that espouse the rule of law, interpersonal communication has to contend with legislation and ethical codes that allow for freedom of expression with limits. One such legal limit to expressive freedom is respect for the reputation of others. Courts of law and other administrative bodies exist to determine if there has been a violation of the right to reputation in the course of expressive freedom, and mete appropriate criminal and civil penalties on the culpable. This paper examines the communication dynamics in journalists’ subsequent sourcing, processing and dissemination of news and information against the backdrop of threats to sue, suits and the courts’ imposition of civil penalties on a newspaper defendant. The results of the inquiry conducted in Kenya show, among others things, that fear of being sued for defamation influenced newspaper content in terms of the quantity (removal of some material), quality (watering down stories) and structure (page placement of news articles). In a nutshell, some stories, including those of great public interest, were not published because of the threat of a libel action. Keywords: Defamation, Journalist, libel, litigation, news, newspaper
Today, the black sheep lays exposed, the black sheep can be spotted from a far, with its long horns hovering above the white sheep, and the shepherd does not take long to realize that this black sheep is not a saint, that the black sheep is a tool used by the mighty to oppress the poor and normal citizens. The black sheep is a secret weapon used by the powerful and irresponsible politicians, those who have refused to be held accountable, and those who believe that they own the world.