Assessing the limitations to freedom of expression on the internet in Ethiopia against the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights

Yohannes Eneyew Ayalew
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

The right to freedom of expression is guaranteed under international law and in the constitutions of most countries. The content of this right has developed and recently has come to be thought of as including the internet as a medium of communication, and the question is raised whether access to the internet is protected under the current set of normative principles. The right to freedom of expression is fully protected under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to which Ethiopia is a party. The Ethiopian government restricts freedom of expression on the internet and has adopted extraneous limiting measures. Most of these measures are incompatable with the African Charter. Restrictions to freedom of expression on the internet include internet shutdowns, hate speech and disinformation regulation, repressive laws, and internet censorship. These limitations may (in)directly muzzle freedom of expression in Ethiopia. The writer argues that illegitimate limitations of the right fall short of the quadruple tests of limitation measures, both under the African Charter and the Ethiopian Constitution. As a result, these limitations violate individuals’ freedom of expression on the internet. Finally, the article suggests that the Ethiopian government should draw guidance from the African Commission’s 2019 Declaration on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information containing rules on limitation measures imposed on freedom of expression on the internet.
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对照《非洲人权和人民权利宪章》,评估埃塞俄比亚互联网上言论自由的限制
言论自由的权利受到国际法和大多数国家宪法的保障。这项权利的内容已经发展,最近被认为包括互联网作为一种交流媒介,并提出了一个问题,即访问互联网是否受到现行规范原则的保护。言论自由权受到《非洲人权和人民权利宪章》的充分保护,埃塞俄比亚是该宪章的缔约国。埃塞俄比亚政府限制互联网上的言论自由,并采取了外来的限制措施。这些措施大多数都不符合《非洲宪章》。对互联网上言论自由的限制包括关闭互联网、管制仇恨言论和虚假信息、压制性法律和互联网审查。这些限制可能会直接扼杀埃塞俄比亚的言论自由。提交人认为,对权利的非法限制不符合《非洲宪章》和《埃塞俄比亚宪法》规定的限制措施的四项标准。因此,这些限制侵犯了个人在互联网上的言论自由。最后,文章建议埃塞俄比亚政府从非洲委员会2019年的《言论自由与信息获取宣言》中汲取指导,该宣言包含了限制互联网言论自由措施的规则。
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来源期刊
African Human Rights Law Journal
African Human Rights Law Journal Social Sciences-Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
CiteScore
1.00
自引率
0.00%
发文量
15
审稿时长
24 weeks
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