INTERNET AS THE COMMUNICATION MEDIUM OF THE 21ST CENTURY: DO WE NEED A SPECIAL LEGAL REGULATION OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ON THE INTERNET?
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Abstract
The authors of the paper deal with the issue of infringement of the protection of religion and belief by the application of the constitutional freedom of expression in the Internet environment which, compared to traditional media (radio, television, etc.), allows not only rapid and immediate access to information, but
also gives every single person space for unlimited dissemination of their ideas and opinions. Freedom of expression is thus unlimited, absolute in the conditions of the Internet environment. From a legal point of view,
however, such a situation is very problematic. Besides freedom of expression, the constitutionally guaranteed
rights and freedoms also include such rights as the right to privacy, the right to freedom of religious expressions, the right to respect for human dignity, personal honour, good repute and the protection of the name. In the Internet environment, it is obvious that a conflict of rights has to take place. In addition, due to the unlimited freedom of expression, the Internet is also a breeding ground for the dissemination of various hate speech, in many cases only on the grounds of the individual’s religious beliefs, which ultimately lead to committing the criminal offenses. For these reasons, the authors also analyze the individual negative, accompanying phenomena of unrestricted freedom of expression, having criminal implications, and examine specific verbal attacks that may also interfere with the right to protection of religion in the Internet.
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