Quote

"Following on from this, the Special Rapporteur believes strongly that it is critical to raise the public conscience to ensure that criminal laws are not used (or abused) to stifle public awareness and suppress discussion of matters of general or specific interest. At minimum, it must be understood that:(a) The only legitimate purpose of defamation, libel, slander and insult laws is to protect reputations; this implies defamation will apply only to individuals - not flags, States, groups, etc.; these laws should never be used to prevent criticism of government or even for such reasons as maintaining public order for which specific incitement laws exist."

Document

UNHRC: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Protection and Promotion of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression (1999), para. 28(a)

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Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Protection and Promotion of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression (1999)

English

Summaries

Defamation laws should only be used to protect individuals, never to prevent criticism of the government or institutions.