Cenzura treści elektronicznych a międzynarodowa odpowiedzialność państwa za naruszenie praw człowieka
On-line censorship and state responsibility for human rights violations

Summary/Abstract: In the article the author examines state filtering of electronic content in terms of its compliance with international law, especially with provisions guaranteeing the freedom of expression and access to information. The White House implemented program “Internet Freedom”, whose aim is to introduce software enabling the circumvention of local content control in “filtering countries”, is subject to thorough analysis. The analysis covers recent (2011) events in Egypt, where the world’s first successful attempt at shutting down the Internet within state borders was completed. Although enforced through legitimate state actions this Internet shut-down was circumvented with the use of Google-introduced technology. The technology and its use seemed to meet the ideas behind the “Internet Freedom” program, introduced by the White House a few month prior to the Egypt events. In the course of argument the author discusses international responsibility for the possible breach of their international obligations by both: Egypt and the U.S. She provides for the assessment of the legality of the actions of Egyptian authorities’ introducing an Internate filter that constitutes an infringement of freedom of expression, as well as the responsibility of United States for their failure to halt a U.S. legal entity enabling users to circumvent the legitimate Egyptian technology. The author argues that the character of the global network requires a redefinition of state sovereignty, especially in the context of human rights protection on-line. An idea introduced by R.H. Weber of “shared sovereignty” is mentioned, as it reflects the basic principle of international Internet law: the principle of multistakeholder governance.

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