Types of Expressions

The Global Expression Report 2023 provides a comprehensive analysis of the state of freedom of expression worldwide. It assesses 161 countries using 25 indicators to assign each a score between 0 and 100, categorizing them into various levels of expression freedom: In Crisis (0-19), Highly Restricted (20-39), Restricted (40-59), Less Restricted (60-79), and Open (80-100).

Key findings include:

1. **Decline in Global Expression**: There has been a significant decline in freedom of expression globally. The Global Expression Score, the mean average of country scores, has dropped by 6 points since 2012. Even more concerning is the Human Score, weighted by population, which shows a 13-point decline over the same period.

2. **Widespread Repression**: Around 80% of the global population now lives with less freedom of expression than a decade ago, affecting over 6 billion people in more than 80 countries. The 21st century has seen an increase in repression for the majority of the world's population.

3. **Disproportionate Impact**: The report highlights that more countries are experiencing declines in freedom than those witnessing improvements. Notably, countries with declining freedoms tend to have larger populations. For instance, 95% of countries that have seen advances in the last decade have populations under 50 million, whereas only 74% of countries with declining freedoms have populations of that size.

Overall, the report paints a concerning picture of the current state and trends of global freedom of expression.

As part of ARTICLE 19’s global #FreeToProtest campaign advancing the right to protest principles, this new report documents China’s systematic targeting of its critics through transnational repression. The most prolific perpetrator of such repression globally, China has resorted to harassment, violence, abduction, forced repatriation, surveillance, censorship, and retaliation against family members in China, among others, to silence protesters abroad. Building on research and almost thirty interviews with the diaspora from China, “including ethnic Han Chinese, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Kazakhs, and Mongolians, as well as Hong Kongers,” the report records incidents that took place in 2011-24 across Asia, Europe, and North America and offers recommendations to the Chinese authorities, host states, and tech companies. 

In light of the global suppression of environmental protests through intimidation, surveillance, deprivation of liberty, violence, and even murder, these guidelines address States’ obligations under Article 3 (8) of the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention). Compiled by Michel Forst, the first UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders under the Aarhus Convention, the guiding principles include: 1) Tackling the root causes of the environmental protest; 2) countering negative portrayals of environmental protesters as criminals; 3) refraining from civic space restrictions in response to civil disobedience; 4) avoiding the use of unnecessary or disproportionate measures against environmental defenders; 5) asserting that “the courts’ approach to peaceful environmental protest, including any sanctions imposed, does not contribute to the restriction of the civic space.”

This report, published annually by 7amleh - The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media, documents systemic violations of Palestinians’ digital rights – violations amplified by the 15-month Israel-Gaza war. What roles do Israeli authorities and social media companies play in restricting digital spaces for Palestinians? From hateful and discriminatory content and surveillance systems to the militarization of AI and large-scale damage to communication infrastructure, the report surveys the impact on freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, right to privacy, and right to internet and information access.

This short course 'Human Rights: The Right to Freedom of Expression' created by Amnesty International "will equip you with the knowledge to understand and claim your right to freedom of expression, and the skills and confidence to take action to defend it. Learn from the experts at Amnesty International how to claim and defend your rights in this human rights course. You will be challenged to think critically and devise effective actions to defend the human rights of others. You will be able to adapt the human rights of freedom of expression, association and assembly to real life situations and come face-to-face with human rights activists on the front line of human rights defense." "The course ran from 17 November to 8 December 2015 and remains online for you to browse or refresh your knowledge in archive mode."

"The Internet rights are human rights is a series of training modules concerned with the relationship between human rights, ICTs and the internet. These modules are intended to help those who work on human rights and/or ICTs, and others with an interest in the issues, to understand ways in which the internet is affecting the enjoyment and protection of rights – now and in the future – and explore how these affect their work." The modules are: Introduction to Human rights, ICTs and the internet; Freedom of association and freedom of assembly; Freedom of expression and freedom of information;The right to privacy.

Bentham’s statement of press freedom argues to permit political associations/assemblies in public and resistance to governmental authority as a check to abuse of power. Special mention of permitting criticism, including of state officials, and a discussion of how sedition and defamation of public officials should be addressed.

Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) published its annual Europe-focused report documenting press freedom violations in the EU Member States and nine candidate countries between January and December 2024. MFRR recorded a total of 1,548 press freedom violations with 2,567 entities or media professionals involved. The 359 of those violations were online attacks – a significant increase from 266 such cases recorded in the previous year. Legal attacks against journalists also occurred more frequently: 319 cases concerning 556 media workers or organizations. MFRR described demonstrations and protests as “among the most dangerous environments for journalists in 2024”: more than 50% of the 271 protest-related press freedom violations documented were physical attacks on reporters – with police or state security forces often being the perpetrators.

"The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom with the support of Council of the Europe (CoE) organised the conference “Promoting dialogue between the European Court of Human Rights and the media freedom community. Freedom of expression and the role and case law of the European Court of Human Rights: developments and challenges”. The three key themes of this conference were: (1) defamation, privacy and the processing of personal data, (2) investigative journalism in relation to newsgathering, access to official documents and the importance of the protection of sources and whistleblowers, as well as (3) the right to protest and the role of the media during protests. The conference resulted in fruitful discussions of the ECtHR’s recent case law relating to freedom of expression, media and journalism. The keynote speakers, the moderators, the speakers and participants played a crucial role on the productive dialogue between judges and civil society. These discussions have been collected and presented in this conference e-book in form of conclusions. In addition, unedited speeches and presentations of the speakers are incorporated in this publication. The conference was broadcast live and video links to all speakers’ presentations are included as well. Lastly, a summary of social media coverage is also integrated."

Social protest is recognized and protected as intrinsic to the existence and consolidation of democracies by the inter-American system of human rights. As per the instruments of the inter-American system, the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association guarantee and protect individual and collective forms of public expression of opinions, dissent, demand for compliance with human rights, and affirmation of the historically marginalized groups in society. Despite such recognition, the region continues to repress and limit the exercise of these rights in the public sphere, due to the notion of citizen mobilization being disruptive for public order or a threat to the stability of democratic institutions. The objective of this report, therefore, is to “contribute to a better understanding of State obligations aimed at guaranteeing, protecting, and facilitating public protests and demonstrations, as well as the standards that should frame the progressive use of force—and as a last resort—in protest contexts”. The report discusses: guiding principles, applicable legal framework, obligation to respect rights, obligation to protect and facilitate, obligation to guarantee rights, protests and the internet, access to information, states of emergency, and conclusions and recommendations.