Freedom of Expression and its Legal Consequences in the Era of Social Media

• Published in: Amicus curiae (Bicester, England) England), 2024-07, Vol.5 (3), p.564-591
• Main Author: Adjei, Justice Sir Dennis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1461-2097; 2048-481X
• DOI: 10.14296/ac.v5i3.5712

Freedom of expression has become a household phrase, but its meaning is deeper than first appears, as found in some international instruments and national laws. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first human rights instrument adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly Resolution in Paris on 10 December 1948 to abate human rights violations and atrocities after the Second World War, addressed freedom of expression as one of the touchstones of democracy. Presently, all 192 member states of the United Nations have signed up to it, by virtue of the other UN treaties they have signed, even though it was intended to be a soft law. The Declaration was signed as a soft law to be respected but was without binding force. however, through the passage of time, it has become a customary international law with binding force. Freedom of expression, which is an inalienable right, permits human beings, among other things, to seek information, and if received, the recipient may impart the same through any media, regardless of frontiers, to inform and educate people about their rights. The importance of freedom of expression is that it is one of the pillars of human rights and is found in all the relevant international and regional human rights instruments. The international human rights instruments that have provisions on freedom of expression are: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which came into force on 23 March 1976, after it had been adopted for signature, ratification and accession by the UN General Assembly on 16 December 1966; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 21 December 1965; and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 November 1989 and came into force in September 1990. All three regional human rights instruments have recognized freedom of expression as an indispensable part of human rights and have provisions for it. The three regional human rights instruments are: the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which was signed in Rome in 1950 and came into force on 3 September 1953; the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights 1981 (ACHPR), which came into force on 21 October 1986; and the American Covenant on Human Rights (ACHR), which was adopted in 1969 and came into force on 18 July 1978. Freedom of expression is also recognized by the Declaration