Freedom of expression and the right of access to the Internet: A new fundamental right?

Featuring specially commissioned chapters from experts in the field of media and communications law, this book provides an authoritative survey of media law from a comparative perspective. This chapter explores the relationship between modern communication technologies and constitutional freedoms. In particular, it takes a closer look at a range of Internet and freedomof- expression-related issues.

Technological developments in communication have brought revolutionary opportunities and changes in the landscape regarding how people obtain, process and exchange information. One of the emerging challenges for the legal and regulatory regime is in shaping a modern interpretation of the right to freedom of thought and expression (Dutton et al . 2011). The rapidly evolving media revolution has generated a number of new regulatory initiatives designed to reduce systemic risks associated with this means of communication, “ranging from risks to children, to privacy, to intellectual property rights, to national security, which might more indirectly, and often unintentionally, enhance or curtail freedom of expression” (Dutton et al. 2011: 8).