Lect. PhD. Zeynep ARDIÇ of the General Public Law Department at IMU Law Faculty presented her paper titled “An Outlook on Social Media from a Human Rights Perspective: Restrictions on Freedom of Expression” at Information and Technology Law Symposium organized by our Law Faculty in cooperation with Information and Technology Law Association on 3-4-5 December 2021.
ARDIÇ started her presentation by saying that she aimed to analyze the human rights violations related to use of social media by examining the literature and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) jurisprudence with a critical and analytical approach. In this context, she first argued that the use of the internet has become a critical tool for producing information, disseminating news, mobilizing people and creating political content, and accordingly, it has a critical importance in terms of freedom of expression and freedom of information. However, she concluded that social media platforms not only promote freedom of expression by providing individuals and other actors with an important space to express their opinions, but also serve as a tool to pressure people by censoring their content and thus violate their freedom of expression.
In the conclusion section, ARDIÇ noted that positive obligations of the state within the scope of the ECtHR case-law focus on establishing a fair balance between the use of freedom of expression, freedom on information, and public order and security. However, she criticized the failure of public officials in fulfilling their positive obligations in this area due to concerns about national security and made suggestions in establishing a fair balance.
