European Convention on Human Right

Running head: MEDIA CONTENT AND CONTROL
MEDIA CONTENT AND CONTROL
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Author Note

MEDIA CONTENT AND CONTROL2
Effect of Censorship Law in the Freedom of Expression in the United Kingdom
Introduction
Freedom of expression in the United Kingdom is a constitutionally sanctioned right granted
to the people. The freedom of expression grants the citizens the right to hold opinions and the
right for exchanging ideas and information without any public authorities interfering.
Although the rights of the people in the United Kingdom towards their freedom of expression
is protected by law, yet, it is considered to be a qualified right, which makes it easier for
being overridden in certain specific situations. One such situation is in relation to media and
broadcasting. The broadcasters in the United Kingdom, including the foreign broadcasters,
are required to be following the European Union laws and the national and state legislations
of the United Kingdom for broadcasting contents in the country.1 This paper will discuss in
detail about the existence of freedom of expression in the United Kingdom and the
restrictions provided against by way of legislation. The paper will further discuss about the
relevance of the regulations related to obscene publications in the current times. This paper
will further discuss about the recent developments in the Human Rights Act 19982 in relation
to the laws of privacy and freedom of expression. In this paper the readers will also be
provided with an insight to the applicability of the Article 10 of the European Convention on
Human Rights3.
Freedom of Expression
Freedom of expression can be defined as the right provided to the individuals for expressing
the ideas, thoughts, beliefs and emotions in regard to different issues without any kind of
Censorship from the Government. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights defines
freedom of expression as the right that every individual is entitled to for holding any opinion
1 Scanlon, T., 2018. A Theory of Freedom of Expression 1. In Freedom of Speech (pp. 13-35). Routledge.
2 Human Rights Act 1998
3 European Convention on Human Rights

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or belief or to exchange ideas, information without any kind of interference. The right to
freedom of expression has been considered as a significant human right which in turn is
considered to be crucial part for a democratic society4. By way of freedom of expression the
individuals are given the right to exchange ideas, information and opinions and helps in
providing the members of the society to be forming their opinions on the matters that can be
considered as important to the public. By way of freedom of expression the idea of an
independent and free press is supported along with transparency in the functions of the states.
By way of freedom of expression the individuals are protected in every way through which
they can be expressing their views despite of the tone in which the message was conveyed or
the content in the message. The law on freedom of expression can be observed to be covering
every space, purpose, media or form that is available for individuals to be expressing their
views. By way of the right to freedom of expression individuals are protected from any kind
of unjustified restriction that the government might place on the individuals expressing their
opinions. Freedom of expression in the United Kingdom is a constitutionally sanctioned right
granted to the people5. In the United Kingdom the right to freedom of expression has been
granted to the individuals by way of the provisions of the European Convention on Human
Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998. Article 10 of the Human Rights Act6 provides
protection to the individuals for holding their opinions and for expressing them in a free
manner, without any kind of restriction or interference from the government7. The provisions
of the freedom of expression can be understood with the judgment in the Reynolds v Times
Newspapers Ltd [2001] 2 AC 1278. This is a case of defamation under the provisions of the
4 Harris, D.J., O'Boyle, M., Bates, E. and Buckley, C., 2014. Harris, O'Boyle & Warbrick: Law of the European
convention on human rights. Oxford University Press, USA.
5 Voorhoof, D., 2015. Freedom of expression and the right to information: Implications for copyright.
In Research Handbook on Human Rights and Intellectual Property. Edward Elgar Publishing.
6 Human Rights Act 1998, art 10
7Equality and Human Rights Commission ‘Article 10: Freedom of Expression’ -
https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/y-ddeddf-hawliau-dynol/article-10-freedomexpression - accessed 30
December 2019
8 Reynolds v Times Newspapers Ltd [2001] 2 AC 127

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English law in regard to the privilege that the press had for publishing any statement that can
be considered to be defamatory. The judges in the case stated that the journalists have their
duties for publishing any allegation even if such allegation is later found out to be wrong. The
protection can be observed to include the expression of the views by way of publishing any
kind of books, articles or leaflets, by way of broadcasts through radio or television, artistic
works and through social media and internet. However these protections also have certain
restrictions.
The right to freedom of expression is vital for anyone working in the field of journalism and
media. This freedom gives them the right to criticize the government and any other institution
without any kind of fear for getting prosecuted. The freedom to criticize the government is
considered a very important feature that proves a society to be democratic9. An important
example of the freedom of expression of the press can be observed in the case of Observer
and The Guardian v United Kingdom [1991]10. In the case, The Guardian and the Observer,
two famous newspapers, were seen as publishing the excerpts from the famous book of Peter
Wright named the Spycatcher. The excerpt was seen as including an allegation that there
have been unlawful actions from MI5. A court order was obtained by the government which
prevented the newspapers from publishing any for the material until the end of any
proceeding that was going on for a breach of confidence. At the time of the publishing of the
book, the newspapers complain that if the court orders continued it would infringe the right to
freedom of expression. However, the complaint was rejected by the European Court of
Human Rights on the grounds that as the order was in the interest of the security of the nation
therefore the court order would be considered as lawful. However, contradictorily the
European Court of Human Rights also stated that after the publication of the book, the ban on
9Equality and Human Rights Commission ‘Article 10: Freedom of Expression’ -
https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/y-ddeddf-hawliau-dynol/article-10-freedomexpression - accessed 30
December 2019
10 Observer and The Guardian v United Kingdom [1991]