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21. The Perfect Storm: The closing space for LGBT civil society in Kyrgyzstan, Indonesia, Kenya, and Hungary

Author:
Meg Davis
Publication Date:
04-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Global Philanthropy Project (GPP)
Abstract:
While the late 20th century saw a blossoming of civil society organizations, the beginning of the 21st century has been a period of upheaval. In response to both the threat of terrorism and to growing populist pressure for democracy, transparency, and government accountability, states have used new laws and tactics to restrict freedom of association and freedom of expression. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) organizations have always faced such barriers, ranging from criminalization of same-sex sexuality, to refusal of the right to register organizations or hold public events, to the shutdown of websites.1 In recent years, some countries have also ratified new laws that explicitly prohibit groups engaged in “LGBT propaganda.” In other countries, politicians have mobilized resurgent nationalism by publicly scapegoating LGBT groups as representing “foreign values.” These overlapping trends have created a “perfect storm” for LGBT civil society organizations caught in simultaneous waves of political pressure.
Topic:
Civil Society, Government, Law, Freedom of Expression, Discrimination, LGBT+, Marginalization, and Philanthropy
Political Geography:
Kenya, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Hungary, and Global Focus

22. Internet Freedom and Human Rights

Author:
Daniel Joyce
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This article considers whether the Internet has become so significant, for the provision of, and access to, information and in the formation of political community and associated questions of participation, that it requires further human rights protection beyond freedom of expression. In short, should Internet freedom be configured as a human right? The article begins by considering the ubiquity of the Internet and its significance. A wider historical view is then taken to understand Internet freedom in terms of its lineage and development from earlier debates over freedom of expression and the right to communicate, through to the recognition of the significance of an information society and the need for Internet regulation on the international plane. The current debate over Internet freedom is then analysed with particular focus given to Hillary Clinton’s speech on Internet freedom and its subsequent articulation by Special Rapporteur Frank La Rue. The concluding part introduces the critical work of Evgeny Morozov and Jaron Lanier to an international law audience in order to deepen the debate over Internet freedom and to point to the concept’s limitations and dangers. It is too early to say whether a ‘right to Internet freedom’ has achieved universal recognition, but this article makes the case that it is worth taking seriously and that Internet freedom may need its own category of protection beyond freedom of expression.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Law, History, Regulation, Internet, and Freedom of Expression
Political Geography:
Europe, Global Focus, and United States of America

23. Online journalism in Russia : The ordinary games of political control freedom

Author:
Françoise Daucé
Publication Date:
04-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:
Many online newspapers were created in Russia during the early 2000s, which gave rise to hopes concerning further developments of media pluralism. Their day-to-day operations differ little from those of their Western counterparts. They are subject to the same technical possibilities and to the same financial limitations. Under the increasingly authoritarian Russian regime, however, these common constraints can become political. Economic constraints on editorial boards, limitations on their sources of advertising revenue, administrative requirements, and surveillance of Internet providers are all tools used for political purposes. This article uses the examples of the major news sites that are lenta.ru and gazeta.ru, and the more specialized sites, snob.ru and grani.ru, to show how this political control is based on the diversity of ordinary constraints, which procedures and justifications are both unpredictable and dependent on the economic situation. The result is that political control is both omnipresent and elusive, constantly changing.
Topic:
Corruption, Crime, Human Rights, Science and Technology, Sociology, Internet, Freedom of Expression, Political Science, and Social Policy
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

24. Judicial Reform Packages: Evaluating Their Effect on Rights and Freedoms

Author:
Hande Özhabeş and Naim Karakaya
Publication Date:
12-2013
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
“Judicial Reform Packages: Evaluating Their Effect on Rights and Freedoms” authored by Naim Karakaya and Hande Özhabeş, is published as part of TESEV’s ongoing work on judicial reform. The report focuses on the four judicial reform packages released by AK Party government between 2011 and 2013. It analyses the Judicial Packages and evaluates them from the perspective of rights and freedoms, and focuses especially on freedom of expression, right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial as well as the execution system.
Topic:
Security, Law, Reform, Freedom of Expression, Justice, and Judiciary
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

25. Caught in the Wheels of Power: The Political, Legal and Economic Constraints on Independent Media and Freedom

Author:
Ceren Sözeri and Dilek Kurban
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
Media policy in Turkey has shaped the media-state relationship since the establishment of the first newspaper in the late Ottoman period. While regulations were often employed as an effective disciplinary tool against the press in processes of state formation and modernization, opponent journalists have constantly been suppressed by state and non-state actors who claimed to act in the name of ‘state interests.’ The lack of a strong pro-democracy social movement; the ideological conservatism of the judiciary; the institutional weakness of the parliament; and the lack of democracy within political parties render the government – and future governments – too powerful vis-à-vis the society and the media. On a positive note, however, there is a growing awareness on the need for social monitoring of the media. In the absence of a widely accepted and established self-regulatory framework, various nongovernmental organizations and activist groups started to watch the media in order to expand the culture of diversity and to reduce discrimination, racism and hate speech.
Topic:
Democracy, Media, Freedom of Expression, Journalism, and Judiciary
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

26. Case Study Report: Does Media Policy Promote Media Freedom and Independence? The Case of Turkey

Author:
Ceren Sözeri and Dilek Kurban
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
Media policy in Turkey has shaped the media-state relationship since the establishment of the first newspaper in the late Ottoman period. While regulations were often employed as an effective disciplinary tool against the press in processes of state formation and modernization, opponent journalists have constantly been suppressed by state and non-state actors who claimed to act in the name of ‘state interests’. The coup d’état in 1980 and the concomitant economic liberalisation changed the ownership structure of the media sector with the entry of new investors. Following the abolishment of state monopoly on broadcasting in the 1990s, big conglomerates expanding through vertical and horizontal mergers have dominated all fields of the media. The high concentrated market structure in the media was made possible due to the inadequacy of legal barriers to crossmergers, as well as the lack of measures that would prevent media conglomerates from participating in public tenders in other sectors of the economy. The shortcomings of the regulatory framework to promote press freedom and diversity in the media has encouraged big corporations to regard themselves as legitimate political actors that can bargain with the government. Media ownership was restructured following the economic crisis in 2001. Big media groups, which had investments in the financial and banking sectors, were particularly affected by the crisis; some being completely wiped out of the market, while others were seized by the state. Shortly after the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi- AK Parti) came to power in 2002, the mainstream media was reconfigured ideologically as either ‘opponent’ or ‘proponent’ to the government. Notwithstanding the limited positive effects of the EU accession process on media freedom, there are dozens of ECtHR judgments regarding freedom of expression and freedom of the press waiting to be executed by the Turkish state. Journalists who are powerless vis-à-vis the owners and political power are particularly affected by the political polarisation in the media. The structural obstacles to unionization and the lack of solidarity in the profession lead to labour exploitation, low quality content and violations of media ethics. The lack of a strong pro-democracy social movement; the ideological conservatism of the judiciary; the institutional weakness of the parliament; and the lack of democracy within political parties render the government – and future governments – too powerful vis-à-vis the society and the media. On a positive note, however, there is a growing awareness on the need for social monitoring of the media. In the absence of a widely accepted and established selfregulatory framework, various non-governmental organizations and activist groups started to watch the media in order to expand the culture of diversity and to reduce discrimination, racism and hate speech. MEDIADEM is a European research project which seeks to understand and explain the factors that promote or conversely prevent the development of policies supporting free and independent media.
Topic:
Democracy, Media, Freedom of Expression, and Journalism
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and European Union