Freedom of Expression and Internet Service Providers after Delfi: Where now?

Eliška Pírková, PhD Candidate at the University of Helsinki and member of our working group has presented her work at the EUI during an event organized by The Fundamental Rights Working Group, on Wednesday, 23 November 2016.

Eliška’s talk was based on the paper: «Freedom of Expression and Internet Service Providers after Delfi: Where now?»

“The research paper discusses the issue of third party Internet liability for dissemination of ‘hate speech’ comments and opinions, strictly focusing on non-commercialised speech that lies outside the scope of copyright law. It provides an analysis of the ECtHR pioneer judgment Delfi v. Estonia, where the Strasbourg Court for essentially the first time had to rule on the liability of Internet platforms that allow for dissemination of offensive and often threatening comments to a wide audience. The paper then continues with examining the most recent ECtHR judgment on the same issue, MTE v. Hungary, and draws parallels between the current and previous ECtHR approaches to hate speech. Simultaneously, it critically assesses the pitfalls in the Court’s rulings and its possible future implications. Finally, the goal of the paper is to shed light on ISP’s liability struggle and to pin down the main obstacles imposed on the freedom of expression in the digital age.”

The paper was discussed by Professor Gábor Halmai, the adviser of our working group.

We want to thank Eliška for her very interesting presentation and we hope to see her presenting at the EUI again!