Social media before domestic courts in Europe: An analysis of free speech cases
| Date | 01 December 2020 |
| Published date | 01 December 2020 |
| Author | Evangelia Psychogiopoulou,Federica Casarosa |
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X20979191 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Social media before domestic
courts in Europe: An analysis
of free speech cases
Evangelia Psychogiopoulou* and Federica Casarosa**
Abstract
Social media arose as a way to communicate with friends, but it evolved to become a significant
medium through which individuals exercise their right to free speech. At the same time, social
media has raised a variety of challenges for fundamental rights. Whereas national and supranational
legislators play a key role in terms of governing social media, court decisions are a test-bed for the
protection of fundamental rights in a social media context. This article seeks to shed light on the
social media jurisprudence of constitutional and supreme courts in a selected set of EU Member
States. It examines in particular the contribution of national judiciaries to the protection of
freedom of expression online and its balancing with other rights and interests in a social media
setting. The focus is on cases that concern political speech, cases that examine the application of
safeguards for the press on social media, and cases that reflect upon the impact of social media on
legacy media regulation, that is, regulation for the mass media from the pre-digital age. The analysis
identifies key trends in domestic judicial reasoning and shows the importance of fundamental rights
as an interpretative tool for judicial decision-making on social media standards.
Keywords
Social media, nat ional courts, fun damental rights , freedom of expres sion, ECHR, Chart er of
Fundamental Rights
* Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), Athens, Greece
** Centre for Judicial Cooperation, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
Corresponding authors:
Evangelia Psychogiopoulou, Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), Vas. Sofias 49, 10676,
Athens, Greece.
E-mail: epsychogi opoulou@eliamep.gr
Federica Casarosa, Part-time Professor, Centre for Judicial Cooperation, European University Institute, Florence, Italy.
Email: federica.ca sarosa@eui.eu
Maastricht Journal of European and
Comparative Law
2020, Vol. 27(6) 791–805
ªThe Author(s) 2020
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/1023263X20979191
maastrichtjournal.sagepub.com
MJ
MJ
To continue reading
Request your trial