10. 06. 2014

Davenport: EU on side of freedom of expression

10.6.2014 (Tanjug, B92) -  Head of the EU Delegation in Serbia Michael Davenport stated on Tuesday that freedom of expression is a fundamental right on which any democratic order rests.

The EU will always take the side of those who are denied this right, he said.

Freedom of expression is never guaranteed, it takes struggle to win it, preserve it and protect it, Davenport said at the Blog open-close gathering.

Davenport underscored that a democratic country whose aim is EU accession has to secure space in which nobody is allowed to exert pressure on freedom of speech.

He added that tweets, blogs and Facebook posts serve as an information source although these are not formally recognized as media, which is why the same rules should be applied to the information displayed there as is the case with all other sources, that is, they need to be correct, verified and in keeping with the law.

Still, he said, tweets, blogs and Facebook posts can be viewed as conversations between people in a living room or cafe, which is why any attempted limitation of such expression is the same as trying to limit the right to freedom of expression.

We must not allow the Internet to be a platform for hate speech but individuals who are not jeopardizing the others have to be allowed to use their freedom of expression, Davenport said.

He noted that three phenomena are visible in Serbia that are affecting freedom of speech, including self-censorship, website takedown and intimidation of individuals who were detained and arrested after the recent floods because of their comments on social networks.