ARTICLE 19

History

ARTICLE 19, named after Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was founded in 1987 ‘to document censorship, to defeat the censors, and to help the censored’.

Its first Executive Director was Kevin Boyle: an internationally renowned human rights activist, barrister, and academic from Northern Ireland.
One of ARTICLE 19’s first international campaigns launched in 1989, following the fatwa issued by the Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini against author Salman Rushdie – condemning him to death for alleged blasphemy in his novel The Satanic Verses. ARTICLE 19 formed the International Committee for Defence of Salamn Rushdie, to campaign for the author’s protection.
Since then, ARTICLE 19 has been developing its work with nine regional hubs across the globe, successfully campaigning for freedom of journalists and human rights defenders, shaping countries’ constitutions, ensuring the right to information is enshrined in national laws and monitoring the state of free expression globally.

Geographic scope / network

ARTICLE 19 works locally and internationally from nine regional hubs around the world: in the Asia-Pacific, Bangladesh and South Asia, Brazil and South America, Eastern Africa, Europe and Central Asia, Mexico and Central America, Middle East and North Africa, and North America.

Key actions and/or campaigns

In general Article 19 works to:

· Define a new internet era that respects our freedom of expression and reflects the diversity of human experience by countering disinformation and improving media literacy, challenging mass surveillance, and strengthening legislation to keep data private from governments and Big Tech.

· Amplify the voices of those who are the most vulnerable and systematically discriminated against. ARTICLE 19 works with communities at risk, infomediaries, such as journalists, social communicators, whistleblowers, media workers, and independent and community media outlets, as well as with civil society, community networks, and social movements.

·  Advance law and policy to strengthen and protect expression, by developing policies on new areas impacting freedom of expression, including infrastructure, pluralism and diversity online, state propaganda, and disinformation.

Article 19 runs a number of campaigns:

· #FreeToProtest: A campaign for all people, especially those who face discrimination, to feel empowered to use their right to protest. Article 19 calls on the police, the media, and on policymakers, to end police brutality at protest, humanize protestors, and to reform laws to make protest safer for all.

· #ChallengeHate: A campaign to raise awareness of the international standards relevant to ‘hate speech’ and how these can be used to identify and challenge ‘hate speech’ through positive measures.

· #MissingVoices: A campaign against censorship by social media platforms, by asking for more transparency and the right to appeal decisions that stifle the right to freedom of expression.

Key outputs

The Global Expression Report - a data-driven look at the right to freedom of expression and information across the world.

https://www.globalexpressionreport.org

Methodology of key outputs

The Global Expression Report data tracks freedom of expression across 161 countries using 25 indicators to create an Expression Score between 0 and 100 for each country. That score places it in an expression category: Open, Less Restricted, Restricted, Highly Restricted, or Crisis.

In each year’s report, we explore score changes across 3 time periods: the preceding year (2021–2022), the last five years (2017–2022), and the last 10 years (2012–2022). The rest of our analysis includes our full dataset (2000–2022).

https://www.globalexpressionreport.org/methodology

Key Priorities for next 2 years

1. Digital spaces, governance, services and technologies will be rooted in human rights and enable the diversity of human experience.

2. More inclusive, protected and resilient communities and individuals feel free to express themselves.

3. Accurate and reliable data and information are publicly accessible, and must empower individuals to claim their rights.

Monitoring of threats to journalism safety

Yes

Types of threats monitored

All, depending on the regions of the world