The Internet has opened up new possibilities for the realisation of the right to freedom of expression. This is due to the Internet’s unique characteristics, including ‘its speed, worldwide reach and relative anonymity’.These distinctive features have enabled individuals to use the Internet to disseminate information in ‘real time’, and to mobilise people.The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression (Special Rapporteur) asserts that:

Unlike any other medium the Internet facilitated the ability of individuals to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds instantaneously and inexpensively across national borders. By vastly expanding the capacity of individuals to enjoy their right to freedom of opinion and expression, which is an ‘enabler’ of other human rights, the Internet boosts economic, social and political development, and contributes to the progress of humankind as a whole.

Insofar as freedom of expression is concerned, the Internet presents a compelling platform for the decentralising of information and of institutional control – at its best it acts as a leveller to access to knowledge.

However, as the Special Rapporteur acknowledges, ‘like all technological inventions, the Internet can be misused to cause harm to others.

The right to freedom of expression is deeply rooted in historical thought and underpinned by a number of largely interdependent rationales.

Of these is the