The use of encryption and anonymity to exercise the rights to freedom of opinion and expression in the digital age 2015, para. 48
Paragraph
Paragraph text
Many States recognize the lawfulness of maintaining the anonymity of journalists' sources. The Mexican Supreme Court and Mexican Code of Criminal Procedures recognize the right of journalists to maintain the anonymity of their sources; yet pressures on journalists are in fact severe. The Constitutions of Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay explicitly protect sources; Chile, El Salvador, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) protect sources in law. The Mozambique Constitution protects sources, while Angola purports to do so by statute. Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand have established case-specific judicial balancing tests to analyse source protection, although pressure on journalists may undermine such protections over time. States often breach source anonymity in practice, even where it is provided for in law.
Legal status
Non-negotiated soft law
Body
Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
Document type
Special Procedures' report
Means of adoption
N.A.
Topic(s)
Governance & Rule of Law
Person(s) affected
Activists
Year
2015
Paragraph type
Other
Reference
SR Freedom of Opinion, Report to the HRC (2015), A/HRC/29/32, para. 48.