Source (09.08.2024): https://mfi.gov.hu/esemenyek/az-emberi-jogok-ertelmezeserol-a-szlovak-koztarsasag-alkotmanybirosaganak-gyakorlataban/
The conference is a highlight of the Central European Professors' Network 2021.
With the active participation of experts from seven different countries (Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia), the Professors' Network organises events with the primary aim of raising awareness among European citizens on issues of particular importance for the future of Europe, and in particular Central Europe.
On 27 May 2021, the Institute of Justice in Warsaw, in cooperation with the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law and the Central European Association of Comparative Law, organised a scientific conference in Warsaw entitled "The impact of digital platforms and social media on freedom of expression and pluralism - in general terms". The conference was organised in the framework of the "Central European Professors' Network 2021".
It was the first event of the "Central European Professors' Network 2021", initiated by Polish legal scholars. The members of the Central European Professors' Network are academics from the countries of the Central European region, currently the Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary. The project aims to focus the attention of European citizens on issues that are important and relevant for the future of Europe, in particular Central Europe.
The main theme of the conference, "The impact of digital platforms and social media on freedom of expression and pluralism in general", was based on two issues related to the functioning of social media and their impact on freedom of expression and pluralism, namely:
- analysing the impact of fake news on the Internet in relation to freedom of expression and pluralism of opinions;
- analysis of the impact of online censorship on freedom of expression and pluralism of opinions.
Opening of the conference
The Conference was opened by Professor Marcin Wielec, Director of the Institute of Justice and Head of the Department of Criminal Procedure at the Stefan Wyszyński University of Warsaw, who warmly welcomed the invited guests and expressed his pleasure to welcome Polish academics to the "Central European Professors' Network 2021".
The Director of the Institute of Justice then gave the floor to Prof. Dr. habil. János Szilágyi, Director of the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law, who also welcomed all the guests to the conference, stressing that cooperation between Central European academics is extremely important and that initiatives such as the "Central European Professors' Network 2021" are essential for the establishment of scientific and research cooperation.
The first expert panel
The conference will be moderated by Dr. hab. Marcin Wielec, who opened the first panel with a presentation on "Attempt to establish criminal liability for spreading fake news in Poland". In his speech, the IWS Director highlighted the difficulties in establishing criminal liability for the dissemination of fake news. He underlined that Polish criminal law is not prepared to deal with phenomena such as fake news and stressed the need for in-depth research on this issue in order to develop appropriate solutions.
The second speaker was Bartłomiej Oręziak, Coordinator of the Centre for Strategic Analysis at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw. His presentation was entitled "Legal aspects of censorship in social media from the perspective of the Republic of Poland". The topicality of the issue was that the regulation of certain issues related to censorship in social media does not have a legal basis in the legal order of some countries. The rapporteur pointed out that, although some research had been carried out in Poland on the regulation of censorship in social media, the subject required more in-depth analysis.
The next speaker was Davor Derenčinović, Professor at the University of Zagreb. His topic was "Legal regulation of social media, freedom of expression and fake news in Croatia". He attempted to briefly describe the relationship between freedom of expression and possible content restrictions in social media. He also discussed some issues concerning national regulation of fake news from a Croatian perspective.
The last speaker of the first panel was Professor Kristina Čufar from the University of Ljubljana. Her presentation was entitled "Hate speech on Facebook at the interface of private and public law regulation: the Slovenian perspective". She highlighted the extreme importance of hate crimes and inflammatory texts in the context of social media and illustrated the private and public law elements of the regulation with the Slovenian example.
The second expert panel
The first speaker was Aleš Rozehnal, Professor at Charles University in Prague. In his presentation he examined the issue of censorship and pseudo-news in social media from the perspective of the Czech Republic. Professor Rozehnal highlighted the need for an in-depth debate on the issue and its legal implications.
He was replaced by Dušan V. Popović, Professor at the University of Belgrade. His presentation was entitled "Social media between proclaimed neutrality and value-based elections". In his presentation he pointed out the role of political neutrality and values in social media. He illustrated the need for research on the global neutrality of social media by presenting concrete examples. He stressed that, despite all efforts, people cannot completely detach themselves from their values when making decisions.
Next in line was Sanja Radovanović, Professor at the University of Novi Sad, with her presentation on "Limits to freedom of expression in Serbia". The professor spoke about the importance of restrictions on freedom of speech and expression in social media. He pointed out that social media platforms, which until recently were a guarantee of human rights, have recently started to gradually restrict these rights.
The fourth speaker was András Koltay, Professor at the National University of Public Service in Budapest. His presentation was entitled "Freedom and censorship: the need to strengthen fundamental European values in the age of online platforms - the Hungarian perspective". In his lecture, the professor explained that in times of rapid development of social media and European integration, we cannot forget about values. The professor referred to the Hungarian perspective, which is based on the foundations of Christian civilisation.
The last speaker of the conference was Gábor Hulkó, Professor at Széchenyi István University. In his presentation "General rules of freedom of expression on online social media in Slovakia", he discussed the most important aspects of freedom of speech and expression in the context of social media from a Slovak perspective.
Summary
At the very end of the event, the floor was again taken by Professor Marcin Wielec, who thanked everyone for their participation and presentations. According to the professor, this is only a prelude to a larger project that will allow finding comprehensive and interdisciplinary solutions to regulate the impact of social media on freedom of speech and expression. He stressed that the international academic conference on "The impact of digital platforms and social media on freedom of expression and pluralism in general" was a good opportunity for Central European researchers to exchange experiences on phenomena such as social media censorship and fake news.
Programme of the conference:
