Helga Law Journal

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Helga Law Journal - 01.01.2021, Qupperneq 123

Helga Law Journal - 01.01.2021, Qupperneq 123
Helga Law Journal Vol. 1, 2021 128 129 discussion on the Internet without risking limiting the freedom of expression greatly. Article 15, paragraph 3, of the Police Act, states that the police can interfere with a protest if there is a chance of riots.82 If the police were to interfere with movements on the Internet some problems arise. First of all it is nearly impossible for the police to stand guard over the Internet and second of all there is no provision that allows the police to interfere with a person who is expressing their opinion on Twitter or Facebook. If the police were to monitor all of the communication that foregoes on a daily basis on the Internet, we would quickly run the risk of creating a Big Brother community. And as mentioned above, the challenge is more the rights of the individuals rather than public interests, so the police would probably need to get a complaint from an individual before acting on discussion on the internet. Accordingly, the individual may initiate defamations proceedings in a civil case before the courts against a person who violates his or her privacy or reputation with degrading or hateful public statements, and request compensation In the case Hrd. 20th of November 2014 (214/2014) a young man had published a picture of a well-known man on the Internet where he had written the words ‘fuck you rapist bastard’. The man that those words were directed against went to court and requested that the statement be declared null and void The Supreme court stated that the young man had his freedom of expression and that the well-known man was himself in a way responsible, with his earlier behaviour, for starting up this flack public debate surrounding him. If we compare this case to the cases that were discussed in question three it can be seen that in the cases regarding ‘traditional’ protesting the question was if an arrest made by the police had been lawful. The court evaluates each time if the actions of the police were necessary and proportional in each case. Thus, the protester himself has to go to court to find out if his right to protest has been violated or not. In the case regarding expression on the Internet the police does not really have any sources to interfere with those expressions as they are happening. So instead of it being a case of if a government body was in the right to limit the freedom of expression it is rather a question if the person who expressed herself on the Internet interfered with someone else’s individual right. An example from Iceland where it can be said that the right to protest was exercised on the Internet is a movement that happened at the same time as the #metoo movement. It used the hash tag #höfumhátt (#letsbeloud) and started from a political discussion regarding a sentence paedophile who had formally gotten a restoration of honour by a decision of the Ministry of Justice and was therefore able to get back his license to practice as an advocate. The public wanted the law to be changed so the concept of restored honour would be 82 If it seems likely that disorder will break out at a protest meeting, procession or other such gathering in a public place, the police may prohibit people from changing the appearance of their faces, or covering their faces or part of them with masks, hoods, paint or other means intended to prevent them from being recognised. to efficiently start large-scale collective actions in shorter time then has ever been possible.79 The hash tag #metoo spread on Twitter in October of 2017 and was used in 12 million posts in the first 24 hours. With the hash tag, women tweeted about their experience of sexual assault and harassment.80 There is a “growing trend of the public’s willingness to engage with resistance and challenges to sexism, patriarchy and other forms of oppression via feminist uptake of digital communications.”81 Digital social movements can be powerful tools for individuals. They can grow fast and bring social changes or different outlooks, like the Arab Spring and #metoo movement go to show. However, there are some legal challenges that need to be considered regarding digital social movements, because they are in their nature different from traditional protests, where people gather at one place to protest or send letters to their lawmakers. As seen from the judgements which were discussed in question three before, the main point of the cases was if an arrest of protesters by the police had been lawful or not. The challenges that Iceland has to face regarding social movements on the Internet are that they may be directed in greater quantities at individuals, rather than the government. Also, it is possible for individuals to be anonymous on the Internet and write things on social media without having to take responsibility for it. As with the case of #metoo several individuals were named as possible perpetrators. If such statements are given in anonymity and the named perpetrator would want to challenge the statement, there would be some difficulties involved. Therefore, it can be said that the challenges regarding social movements like #metoo, is the balance between the freedom of expression and the right to respect for private life. Like the movement showed, it can be very powerful when it comes to challenging power structures and calling for action. The biggest challenge is to weigh and balance the conflicting rights of different individuals against each other. As it says in Article 73 paragraph 2 of the Constitution every individual is free to their opinion and to express themselves, but they have to be able to vouch for their thoughts in a court of law. It also says in paragraph 3 that laws can limit this right for example to protect individuals’ honour. Another challenge is how the state and the police can exercise their power of limiting the right to protest on the Internet. It is nearly impossible to control 79 Boyu Chen and Da-chi Liao ‘Social Media, Social Movements and the Challenge of Democratic Governability’ (Natinao Sun Yat-sen University 2014) 1 https://fsi-live.s3.us- west1.amazonaws.com/s3fs public/chen_boyu.stanford_2014_oct_10.pdf> accessed 10th of July 2018. 80 Nicole Smartt ‘Sexual Harrassment In The Workplace In A #MeToo World’ 2017 Forbes <https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2017/12/20/sexual-harassment- in-the-workplace-in-a-metoo-world/> accesed 10th of July 2018. 81 Kaitlynn Mendes, Jessica Ringrose and Jessalynn Keller: ‘#MeToo and the promise and pitfalls of challenging rape culture through digital feminist activism’ (2018) 25 (2) European Journal of Women’s Studies 2018 <https://doi.org/10.1177/1350506818765318> accesed 10th of July 2018. International Legal Research Group
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