Redefining ‘Media’ Using a ‘Media-as-a-Constitutional-Component’ Concept: An Evaluation of the Need for the European Court of Human Rights to Alter Its Understanding of ‘Media’ Within a New Media Landscape
Legal Studies (2017) Vol. 37, No. 1, 25-53
Posted: 4 Mar 2018
Date Written: March 2017
Abstract
This article considers the impact of new media on freedom of expression and media freedom within the context of the European Convention on Human Rights and European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence. Through comparative analysis of United States jurisprudence and scholarship this article deals with the following three issues. Firstly, it explores the traditional purpose of the media, and how media freedom, as opposed to freedom of expression, has been subject to privileged protection, within a ECHR context at least. Secondly, it considers the emergence of new media, and how it can be differentiated from the traditional media. Finally, it analyses the philosophical justifications for freedom of expression, and how they enable a workable definition of the media based upon the concept of the media-as-a-constitutional-component.
Keywords: Free Speech, Media Freedom, Social Media, European Court of Human Rights, US Supreme Court
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