Non-democratic regimes may use various types of control measures to limit the accessibility of the internet and the spread of information on it. However, some freedom of expression restrictions online are a must even in democratic countries to ensure a safe online space.
Online content moderation
Freedom of expression is not absolute and can, thus, be subject to restrictions. This applies to both offline and online content. To ensure a safe space for everyone online, businesses and other entities deploy content moderation systems.
These systems will not usually violate your freedom of expression as they have a legal basis - the owner of the platform has an obligation to both protect freedom of expression and remove illegal and/or inappropriate content. In addition, there is a legitimate aim behind moderation (for example, to prevent disorder or crime), which is usually necessary and proportionate.
example Social media platforms will usually remove hate speech, harmful content like depictions of violence and try to identify and remove misinformation.
However, necessity and proportionality are very important in such cases as any restrictive measure must be necessary for and proportional to the legitimate aim. This means that your right to express yourself must be balanced against the rights or interests of others.
Read more about lawful restrictions of freedom of expression in this Guide.
Censorship
Censorship is the regulation and restriction of the access and sharing of information. Censorship is usually understood as something that goes beyond lawful restrictions of freedom of expression. However, some forms may be appropriate if implemented correctly, for example, limiting the access of children to online gambling services.
This restriction is usually applied in a manner that affects many people and is not usually aimed at someone individually. However, it can be discriminatory and affect political content, opinions and content that is related to certain groups or be aimed at certain professions, like journalists or human rights activists.
example Some States have previously adopted laws to censor content that promotes LGBT+ identities or same-sex relations. This is a discriminatory restriction of freedom of expression that does not have a legitimate aim.
While internet censorship is applied nation-wide in most extreme circumstances, some forms of restrictions can be applied on other levels, too. For example, your internet service provider limits your access to websites where you could download copyright-protected content illegally or your school or workplace may decide to limit access to websites of a certain nature. This may not always result in a violation of your rights if the restriction has a legal basis, a legitimate aim and is necessary for and proportional to the legitimate aim.
Read about how to evaluate restrictions on your rights in this Guide.
example Your workplace does not allow access to websites that contain pornographic content as this is not related and not required for you to carry out your work.
Shutdowns
Internet shutdowns are an extreme form of censorship that are sometimes intentionally used to supress the spread of information over the internet. This measure is applied in cases where protests are being organized, there is an ongoing election process or to just generally silence critics of a particular regime.
Shutdowns have a big impact as they not only violate the various rights of those who are the primary targets of the shutdowns, but they also limit the use of the internet for other purposes, for example, the possibility of contacting health service providers, and businesses not being able to sell their services, etc.