CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Weinberger, Lisa |
|---|---|
| Title | The constitutional risks of fighting disinformation by law in Europe |
| Summary | With the aim to effectively tackle the spread of false and hateful content online, some countries have introduced legislation to criminalize disinformation online. Such disinformation laws are of great concern due to their risk of deterring effects on free speech and liberal democracy. The first aim of this thesis is to provide an attempt at classifying how EU countries regulate this area, where a distinction will be made between platform regulatory laws and state regulatory laws. Secondly, this thesis will look at the key constitutional aspects of both models evolving around the risk of abuse of power, starting with the most discussed and scrutinized concern of freedom of expression to less obvious aspects such as legal certainty, separation of powers, independent oversight and criminalization of disinformation. It suggests that the loopholes for abuse of power start with the lack of legal certainty regarding the concept of disinformation, which gives the respective decision-making body great discretion when determining the illegality of content, often without judicial supervision. This problem applies to both models. Distinct safeguards present in some laws do not remedy this initial default. In relation to the platform regulatory model, the analysis will focus on Germany as the birthplace of such laws in Europe and France, where the “Avia Law" was declared unconstitutional, as well as Austria, the most recent example in the EU. This model will be contrasted with current examples of state-based regulations, namely another French law and Hungary’s COVID-19 related emergency provision. Given the comparative framework, the findings of this thesis may allow for a better overview of the developments and different models of disinformation laws in Europe and contribute to a broader understanding of the constitutional risks such laws pose given the risk of abuse of power and its implications for liberal democracy. The issues identified at a national level may also be of relevance for the EU when elaborating its own solution on how to best regulate the digital single market. |
| Supervisor | Möschel, Mathias |
| Department | Legal Studies LLM |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/weinberger_lisa.pdf |
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