{"id":9559,"date":"2019-12-30T16:02:34","date_gmt":"2019-12-30T15:02:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/?post_type=hbi-publications&p=9559"},"modified":"2026-08-06T16:03:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T14:03:01","slug":"freedom-of-expression-online","status":"publish","type":"hbi-publications","link":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Freedom of Expression Online"},"content":{"rendered":"

In their contribution to the volume Human Rights, Digital Society and the Law<\/a><\/em>, Dr. Matthias Kettemann<\/a> and Wolfgang Benedek show that freedom of expression is a central right of the information society and that states and companies have certain obligations to protect it.<\/p>\n

\"Cover\"States have a duty to protect their citizens with regard to the Internet (and regarding their online activities, including the exercise of freedom of expression). In so doing, they are obliged to protect them from the activities of third parties as well, be they other individuals or companies. Tech companies, too, including social networking platforms, have a corporate social responsibility to respect human rights within their sphere of influence, which \u2013 on the Internet \u2013 is growing rapidly as the majority of relevant communicative acts takes place in private spaces. The special role of intermediaries is another challenge for regulating the Internet. As the majority of online spaces lies in private hands, it is private law that prima facie frames many norm conflicts online. When states react belatedly through laws or judgments, these may lead to over-blocking or legal conflicts between competing jurisdictions.<\/p>\n

Kettemann, M. C.; Benedek, W. (2019): Freedom of Expression Online. In: M. Susi (ed.),\u00a0Human Rights, Digital Society and the Law.\u00a0A Research Companion. London: Routledge, pp. 58-74.<\/p>\n

You can order this volume here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2433,"template":"","tags":[398],"class_list":["post-9559","hbi-publications","type-hbi-publications","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-miscellaneous"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFreedom of Expression Online - Leibniz HBI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-online\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Freedom of Expression Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In their contribution to the volume Human Rights, Digital Society and the Law, Dr. Matthias Kettemann and Wolfgang Benedek show that freedom of expression is a central right of the information society and that states and companies have certain obligations to protect it. States have a duty to protect their citizens with regard to the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-online\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Leibniz HBI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-06T14:03:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-Publikationen_e.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-publications\\\/freedom-of-expression-online\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-publications\\\/freedom-of-expression-online\\\/\",\"name\":\"Freedom of Expression Online - Leibniz HBI\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-publications\\\/freedom-of-expression-online\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-publications\\\/freedom-of-expression-online\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/Header-Publikationen_e.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-30T15:02:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-06T14:03:01+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-publications\\\/freedom-of-expression-online\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-publications\\\/freedom-of-expression-online\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-publications\\\/freedom-of-expression-online\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/Header-Publikationen_e.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/Header-Publikationen_e.jpg\",\"width\":1380,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"flying book with open pages in front of a blue sky\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-publications\\\/freedom-of-expression-online\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Homepage\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Freedom of Expression Online\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Leibniz HBI\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Leibniz HBI\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/HBI_Logo-Kopie-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/HBI_Logo-Kopie-2.png\",\"width\":462,\"height\":123,\"caption\":\"Leibniz HBI\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Freedom of Expression Online - Leibniz HBI","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-online\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Freedom of Expression Online","og_description":"In their contribution to the volume Human Rights, Digital Society and the Law, Dr. Matthias Kettemann and Wolfgang Benedek show that freedom of expression is a central right of the information society and that states and companies have certain obligations to protect it. States have a duty to protect their citizens with regard to the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-online\/","og_site_name":"Leibniz HBI","article_modified_time":"2026-08-06T14:03:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1380,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-Publikationen_e.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-online\/","url":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-online\/","name":"Freedom of Expression Online - Leibniz HBI","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-online\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-online\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-Publikationen_e.jpg","datePublished":"2019-12-30T15:02:34+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-06T14:03:01+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-online\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-online\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-online\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-Publikationen_e.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-Publikationen_e.jpg","width":1380,"height":400,"caption":"flying book with open pages in front of a blue sky"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-online\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Homepage","item":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Freedom of Expression Online"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/","name":"Leibniz HBI","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#organization","name":"Leibniz HBI","url":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/HBI_Logo-Kopie-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/HBI_Logo-Kopie-2.png","width":462,"height":123,"caption":"Leibniz HBI"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"permalink_manager":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hbi-publications\/9559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hbi-publications"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hbi-publications"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newws.leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}