Summary
Political parties and candidates must be granted, on an equal basis, the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds orally, in writing, in print, through art, or through any other form of media.
Obligations
Election Parts
Quotes
- Everyone has the right to freedom of thought and expression. This right includes freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing, in print, in the form of art, or through any other medium of one's choice.
- Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas by any legal means without interference by a public authority and regardless of frontiers.
- Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This Article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.
- Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.
- The states ensure that citizens, candidates, political parties (coalitions), which nominated a candidate and/or a list of candidates and other public formations, are guaranteed the freedom to conduct campaign activities in any forms which do not contradict the law and in line with the procedure and in terms stipulated by the laws provided pluralism of opinions and absence of censorship.
- This right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
- Democracy requires, in particular, the holding, at regular intervals, of free, fair and transparent elections, based on the respect and exercise, without any hindrance or discrimination, of the right to freedom and physical integrity for every voter and every candidate, the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, especially through the press and other communications media, freedom of assembly and demonstration, and freedom of association.
- Democracy requires, in particular, the holding, at regular intervals, of free, fair and transparent elections, based on the respect and exercise, without any hindrance or discrimination, of the right to freedom and physical integrity for every voter and every candidate, the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, especially through the press and other communications media, freedom of assembly and demonstration, and freedom of association.
- [States should foster citizen participation in the electoral process by] ensuring freedom of political debate in the media and guaranteeing that electoral campaigns are open and accessible and that they allow genuine debate that is not only of interest to voters but also informative for their choices. This requires, in particular, transparency and pluralism of all media as well as equal access for all candidates and political parties to the public service media, which should be impartial. Any national regulations on election campaigns should strike a fair balance between freedom of expression and ensuring equal opportunities.
- Ensure that law and public policy work to permit political campaigning to be conducted in a fair and free atmosphere in which neither administrative action, violence, nor intimidation bars the parties and the candidates from freely presenting their views and qualifications, or prevents the voters from learning and discussing them or from casting their vote free of fear of retribution.
- All publicly-owned media should, during election periods, ensure that the public is informed about election matters, respect strict rules of fairness, impartiality and balance, and grant all parties and candidates equitable opportunities to communicate directly with the public, either for free or at subsidised rates.
- Parties and their supporters shall be able to assemble freely and communicate the party views, and their opinions shall not be summarily blocked from receiving balanced media coverage, especially by state-run media.
- It is of paramount importance that political parties and their members have the right to participate in political and public debate, regardless of whether the position taken by them is in line with government policy or advocates for legal or societal change or is unpopular or offensive to some groups.
- In order to secure a diverse and pluralistic political process which is hospitable to candidates and parties from across the political spectrum, States should: (…) (c) Put in place measures to ensure that all political candidates and parties have direct access to State-owned broadcast media services for specific times on an equal basis, which access is determined either on the basis of the previous performance of a given party or candidate or through a ballot process, and that they are treated fairly and equitably by those services.
- Only transparency, impartiality and independence from political motivated manipulation will ensure proper administration of the election process, from the pre-election period to the end of the processing of results.
- Media regulations should provide for safeguards against political censorship, unfair government advantage and unequal access during the campaign period.
- All publicly-owned media, including public service broadcasters, should be under the following obligations during an election period: To respect strict rules of impartiality and balance, particularly when reporting on the governing party(ies) and on government decisions and actions during an election period.
- The acceptable international standard in this respect is that of non-discrimination. If political advertising is allowed, private media should charge the same rates to all parties and candidates without any discrimination. Some jurisdictions ban political advertising altogether; in other jurisdictions such a ban has been interpreted as an unjustified breach of the right of free speech and expression. Nevertheless, paid political advertising should always be identified as such and should not be disguised as news or editorial coverage.
- The legislative framework for elections should ensure that all political parties and candidates have access to the media and equitable treatment in media owned or controlled by the state, so that the general public can be informed of the political platforms, views and goals of all parties and candidates in a fair and unbiased manner.
- Equality of opportunity must be guaranteed for parties and candidates alike. This entails a neutral attitude by state authorities, in particular with regard to: ii. coverage by the media, in particular by the publicly owned media.
- The legal framework should ensure that: Every party and candidate has equitable access to the media, especially the electronic media, to undertake their campaign.
- It should be illegal for the media to discriminate, on the basis of political opinion or other recognised grounds, in the allocation of and charging for paid political advertisements, where these are permitted by law.
- Nondiscriminatory access to media should also be guaranteed to all political parties and candidates in compliance with Article 2(1) of the ICCPR, which guarantees the rights established in the Covenant “without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status”. Restrictions imposed on media access should also comply with the requirements of legality, necessity and proportionality under Article 19(3).