To browse Academia. This paper aims to shed light on the right to information and the freedom of the media in the context of the COVID outbreak. Infection disease outbreaks are invariably characterized by myths and rumors, boosted by social media accounts, that media often pick up and circulate. Decrees issued during the state of emergency β including the practice of detaining journalists for their work and the abuse of pre-trial detention and Internet censorship β sound like measures adopted to restrict the freedom of expression and the freedom of the media, and to shout down dissenting voices.
Media play a key role in providing important information to the public, and a pluralistic and vibrant media landscape is indispensable to any democratic society. Access to information and a free working environment are therefore essential and need to be ensured at all times, even under state of emergency. Authorities cannot invoke the state of emergency or national security as a motivation to suspend or limit fundamental human rights.
Marco Marsili. On the grounds of protecting public health in the context of the COVID pandemic, some Member States of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe imposed strict rules on the dissemination of "fake news". This paper reviews the outbreak communication principles established by the World Health Organization and checks the compliance of emergency legislation, adopted under the pretext of com-bating misinformation and disinformation, against fundamental human rights.
Sanz Caballero, dir. Anogh Acharya. The year was bad but it was not the worst year in human history. Gergely Gosztonyi. Donato Vese. Governments around the world are strictly regulating information on social media in the interests of addressing fake news. There is, however, a risk that the uncontrolled spread of information could increase the adverse effects of the Covid health emergency through the influence of false and misleading news.
Yet, governments may well use health emergency regulation as a pretext for implementing draconian restrictions on the right to freedom of expression, as well as increasing social media censorship. This article seeks to challenge the stringent legislative and administrative measures governments have recently put in place in order to analyse their negative implications for the right to freedom of expression and suggest different regulatory approaches in the context of public law.
