Bharati Law Review, Oct. – Dec.

, 2017 112

CITIZEN JOURNALISM AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION–WITH

SPECIAL REFERENCE TO WAR AND CONFLICTS
Mr. Krishna Bharadwaj H.

Abstract
With the introduction of social media in the society, every
individual can bring out any incident happening in one corner of
the world to another without any censor or restraint. Anyone can
report the happenings in the society and with the use of
technology, it can be made visible to the whole world in a matter
of seconds.
There are advantages and disadvantages of citizen journalism.
Citizen journalism will in several cases offer free content and
therefore the web provides the flexibility to succeed in a far larger
audience. Citizen journalism might facilitate to broaden the sort of
events that are reported. Citizen journalists sometimes tend to be
bias. Skilled journalists are trained professionals who explore
either side of a story and may write from a non-objective purpose
of read. Citizen journalist doesn't have the sort of training; so,
their stories may not be as credible as professionals.
Article 19 (1) of the Constitution of India and several international
conventions bestow the freedom of speech and expression. Citizen
journalism is use of this freedom by every individual to create an
aware society. The citizen journalism forms a special part of
democracy as it shows that reporting and journalism is not a
limited privilege. To quote the News Media Association, “A free
press is fundamental to a democratic society. It seeks out and
circulates news, information, ideas, comment and opinion and
holds those in authority to account. The press provides the
platform for a multiplicity of voices to be heard. At national,
regional and local level, it is the public’s watchdog, activist and
guardian as well as educator, entertainer and contemporary
chronicler.” The expressions and restrictions applicable to the
citizen journalism and professional journalism vary. Freedom of
press and citizen journalism takes a different turn when the
reporting are done in war and conflict zones. There are both


Assistant Professor, B.M.S. College of Law, Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Bharati Law Review, Oct. – Dec., 2017 113

positives and negatives to such reporting which questions

credibility to emotions.
The present paper intends to introspect the varied dimensions of
freedom of speech and expression and citizen journalism with
special reference to conflicts in war and conflict zones.
Introduction
There is no doubt that technology such as computers, mobile,
internet etc. has changed the lives of many and the way
journalism used to work as well. The citizen journalism especially
in case of wars and conflicts become critical and important
because of the fact that journalist cannot be everywhere and
cannot understand the ground level realities happening in the
conflict zone. Therefore, citizen journalism has gained importance
in the present conditions of the world especially with the recent
happenings in Syria, Egypt and other countries.
Defining the citizen journalism
Oxford Dictionary defines citizen journalism as “the collection,
dissemination, and analysis of news and information by the
general public, especially by means of the Internet.”1 The
Macmillan dictionary defines it as the gathering and reporting of
news by ordinary people rather than professional reporters.2
According to the Collins dictionary, “citizen journalism means the
involvement of non-professionals in reporting news, especially in
blogs and other websites.”3 Techopedia defines “citizen journalism
as the reporting of news events by members of the public using
the Internet to spread the information.” 4
Citizen journalism is, therefore, the dissemination of
events/occurrences and views by an ordinary citizen unlike the
traditional journalism where several people are trained for the
purpose of reporting. Citizen journalism, as defined by
Technopedia, also refers to many other names, including:

1 Oxford Dictionaries, Citizen Journalism, available at:

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/citizen-journalism
(last visited on: October 21, 2017).
2 McMillian Dictionary, Citizen Journalism, available at:
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/buzzword/entries/citizen-
journalism.html (last visited on: October 21, 2017).
3 Collins Dictionary, Citizen Journalism, available at:
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/citizen-journalism
(last visited on: October 21, 2017).
4 Technopedia, Citizen Journalism, available at:
https://www.techopedia.com/definition/2386/citizen-journalism (last
visited on: October 21, 2017).
Bharati Law Review, Oct. – Dec., 2017 114

“Collaborative citizen journalism (CCJ), Personal publishing,

Grassroots media, Networked journalism, Open source
journalism, Citizen media, Participatory journalism, Hyperlocal
journalism, Distributed journalism, Stand-alone journalism,
Bottom-up journalism, Non-media journalism, Indymedia,
Guerrilla journalism etc.” Citizen journalism is, therefore, the
dissemination of events/occurrences and views by an ordinary
citizen unlike the traditional journalism where several people are
trained for the purpose of reporting.
Freedom of speech and expression and citizen journalism
The Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948 has
given out the freedom in Article 19: “Everyone has the right to
freedom of opinion and expression; 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”.5
The UNESCO Convention (1945) has in its objectives included:
“encourage the freedom of exchange of opinions by languages and
images”, “freedom of exchange of opinions and intellect”.
Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Clause
13 of the American Convention on Human Rights, Article 9 of the
African Charter on Human Rights and the rights of nations
expressly provide the rights to freedom of speech, expression and
press. The Human Rights Charter of Asian National accepted from
the Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP) also speaks
about the freedom of speech and expression.
In Indian scenario, the freedom of press is covered under Article
19 (1) (a) of the Indian Constitution. It reads:
“19. (1) All citizens shall have the right-
(a) to freedom of speech and expression”
But it is accepted that no right is absolute. The freedom of press,
speech and expression also faces this flak. The ordinarily used
reason for censoring media is the ‘public interest’ and the ‘public
order’. The governments have been using these words to either get
the media in their favour or censor them so that news is not
published at all.

5 Article 19 (international organisation), Resources, available at:

https://www.article19.org/resources.php?lang=en (last visited on: October
21, 2017).
Bharati Law Review, Oct. – Dec., 2017 115

With the evolution of new media, the political parties have started
their campaigns and acquisition of members to their parties in the
country with a different approach. Vineet Kaul says 6, “New media
are subjected to restrictions such as Internet censorship that
would not be accepted in traditional media. Violations of freedom
of expression are growing, and the need to discuss how to prevent
undesired side effects of new regulation has become urgent. We
must emphasize that free media, which are essential in upholding
democratic societies, should not be hindered. Such an
understanding must in turn be met with concrete efforts to affirm
the place of new media alongside traditional media. It is essential
that no new restrictions on the basic principles of press freedom
and freedom of expression are applied with the introduction of
new media. All citizens not only have the potential but also the
right to express their ideas and opinions worldwide through
electronic networks.”
Nonetheless, citizen journalism has evolved today as one of the
important source of information and often treated as truth by the
public because of the involvement of such individual in the
incident area. This new type of journalism without restraint for
any registration/authorization to publish is truly an achievement
in the modern era.
Importance of citizen journalism
The citizen journalism means collecting any happenings, events or
occurrences by any member of general public and irrespective of
analysis or not, disseminates the collected material to the whole
world through any means and the popular being the internet.
Citizen journalism allows everyone to be a journalist and provide
his version of truth to the whole world. Citizen journalism has
gained importance in the present era. It is also notable that the
citizen journalism has become of part of democracy observed by
any country. A degree of democracy can be weighed based on the
restrictions on the media imposed by the Government. Hence
citizen journalism has become a symbol of democracy in the
modern era. However, citizen journalism in case of war has been a
part of major debate on emerging aspects of journalism. Ever
since the rise of internet and social media as part of a person’s
life, journalism has gained maximum thrust and activism from
the citizen.

6 Vineet Kaul, The Pros and Cons of New Media and Media Freedom,
available at: https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/the-pros-and-
cons-of-new-media-and-media-freedom-2165-7912.1000114.pdf
(last visited on: October 23, 2017).
Bharati Law Review, Oct. – Dec., 2017 116

The reporting of war has taken many lives of journalists especially

the foreign journalists and documentary makers who break
stories of importance to the general public. This toll of death has
its share on the citizen journalism also. Some countries also have
termed citizen journalism as a treason. Putting aside the question
of an individual reporting credibility on the social media/internet,
the correspondence in war is dangerous and is highly important
as well. Moreover, the newspapers that survive in the present
technological era will be those that build with the foremost of the
advantages of the internet world. The old media that attempt to
take hold in their old ways can die.
Pros and cons of citizen journalism
Like every subject matter, even citizen journalism has its own
share of advantages and disadvantages. Citizen journalism brings
out the real stories of the people to the public at large which is
sometimes for free. Unlike traditional newspaper, where purchase
is to be made, the newer form of journalism i.e. social media will
give quick and free access to everything happening around the
world. Some events get reported by Citizen journalists that may
not be reported by other journalists. Traditional media journalists
cover only those which are understood or perceived to be of great
importance of society and sometimes because of prejudice,
personal beliefs and propaganda, some news item may get hidden
and invisible to public. Citizen journalism will enhance the
coverage of events which might have occurred in the remotest of
areas. Citizen journalism promotes for reportage of community
level news because people will be concerned to know what is
happening in the locality and sometimes these community level
issues will gain national level attention required. 7
Other advantages include:
1. Speed in reporting news stories.
2. Higher credibleness of Citizen journalism reporters than
the standard TV journalism.
3. A lot of honesty within the news reportage than other
media.

7 Gerry Storch, The pros and cons of newspapers partnering with 'citizen
journalism' networks,
http://newmediaskool.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id
=187:the-pros-and-cons-of-newspapers-partnering-with-citizen-journalism-
networks&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50 (last visited on: October 20,
2017).
Bharati Law Review, Oct. – Dec., 2017 117

4. Covering of events that don't seem to be permissible

because it may be coated by the standard media coverage. 8
On the other hand, citizen journalists sometimes act with
prejudice covering items which may be against rights of an
individual. They may be violating someone’s right to privacy or
right to be left alone. Traditional media journalists possess the
required training to report the matters without any bias. This
makes their reports more accurate and clear. Therefore, the news
coverage of citizen journalists may not be as credible as the
traditional media journalists. Citizens are not trained on the
defamation laws and laws of privacy. Skilled journalists do have
this information and training. They recognize what they should
say and cannot say in a newspaper article. An example of this is
when Citizen journalists declare de jure that potential suspects
and alleged co-conspirators as criminals in the Massachusetts
marathon bombings. The Citizen journalists caused the police to
take long time in searching them and conduct the investigation.
Also, Citizen journalists don't notice the copyright problems. 9
Other disadvantages include:
1. News of Citizen journalism may be superficial and lacks
depth.
2. News of Citizen Journalism must always be verified.
3. Citizen Journalism may just be rumors.
4. Citizen Journalism might lose honesty because sometimes
it serves special interests.
5. Citizen Journalism doesn't take the general public under
consideration. It’s going to contain scenes of violence or X-
rated scenes that offend public decency and cause panic
and law and order situation.
Restrictions on citizen journalism
As mentioned earlier, Freedom of speech and expression is not
absolute in India. The Constitution itself provides restrictions
under Article 19 (2). These restrictions mentioned therein are:

8 Hebatalla El Semary, May Al Khaja, The Credibility of Citizen Journalism

and Traditional TV Journalism among Emirati Youth: Comparative Study,
http://www.aijcrnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_11_Novembe_2013/6.pdf (last
visited on: October 21, 2017).
9 Jenny Nelson, Pros and Cons of Citizen Journalism,
http://letstalkaboutstrategiccommunication.blogspot.in/2013/09/pros-
and-cons-of-citizen-journalism.html (last visited on: October 19, 2017).
Bharati Law Review, Oct. – Dec., 2017 118

Security of the state, Friendly relations with foreign states, Public

Order, Decency or morality, Contempt of Court, Defamation,
Incitement to offence and Sovereignty and integrity of India.
Romesh Thapar v. State of Madras (1950) necessitated the
inclusion of these restrictions by way of Constitution First
Amendment Bill 1951. The Apex court had said that, “unless a
law restricting the freedom of speech and expression were directed
solely against the undermining of the security of the state or its
overthrow, the law could not be held a reasonable restriction
though it sought to impose a restraint for the maintenance of
public order.” Article 19 will remain suspended when there is
proclamation of emergency under article 352.
A series of cases indicate the imposition of restrictions on exercise
of freedom of speech and expression 10:
Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, (1978): It was that “Freedom of
speech and expression has no geographical limitation and it
carries with it the right of a citizen to gather information and to
exchange thought with others not only in India but abroad also.”
Prabha Dutt v. Union of India ((1982): Supreme Court decided that
if two convicts who are on death row have consented for
interviewed, then they can be interviewed. Accordingly the
Supreme Court directed the Superintendent of Tihar Jail to allow
journalists to interview Ranga and Billa who were awarded death
sentence.
Indian Express v. Union of India (1985): The Supreme Court held
that, “Press plays a very significant role in the democratic
machinery. The courts have duty to uphold the freedom of press
and invalidate all laws and administrative actions that abridge
that freedom.”
Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting v. Cricket
Association of Bengal (“Cricket Association”) (1995): The Court said
that, “Every citizen has a fundamental right to impart as well as
receive information through the electronic media. It ruled that
frequencies or airwaves are public property, and that the
government enjoys no monopoly over broadcasting.”
Union of India v. Association for Democratic Reforms (2002): SC
held that, “one-sided information, disinformation, misinformation

10 IASPoint, Article 19 of Constitution of India and Right to Freedom, available

at: https://academy.gktoday.in/article-19-of-constitution-of-india-and-
freedom-of-speech/(last visited on: October 19, 2017).
Bharati Law Review, Oct. – Dec., 2017 119

and non-information, all equally create an uninformed citizenry

which makes democracy a farce. Freedom of speech and
expression includes right to impart and receive information which
includes freedom to hold opinions.”
These restrictions which are put on the traditional news media are
also applicable to the citizen journalism using social media. They
are also subject to defamation laws of the country, both criminal
and civil. It is to be noted that laws remain the same for both but
the degree of application varies because of the fact that trained
journalists know the limits and use self-restraint while publishing
a news item. Whereas, a citizen journalist publishes what he
wishes or what he thinks to be truth without verifying any facts.
Also, citizen journalists feel they are not subjected to defamation
laws just because they think they have said the truth in their
blogs, posts etc.
Traditional journalists retract the stories published and often
apologies for any wrongful publication unlike citizen journalism
who either don’t investigate the matter or forget the matter. There
may be hardly any retraction from the citizen journalists. Citizen
journalists publish stories with no understanding of the
consequences or responsibilities.
All this makes difficult for the government to regulate.
Government cannot put any restraint on exercise of freedom of
speech and expression without a proper justifiable law. Also, the
government cannot put any censor for publishing nor can it make
it compulsory to seek permission for publishing. Even if any laws
are made in this regard, how the government can regulate the
publishing of something that people believe to be true which is
covered by Article 19 and also an accepted defense against
defamation. The government must think twice if at all it there is
any talks of regulating citizen journalists.
Conclusion
Citizen Journalism has its own share of advantages and
disadvantages but it is to be noted that it gives every individual a
chance to provide his side of the story to the whole world and let
the world decide on it. The extent of citizen journalism shows the
degree of democracy prevailing in a country. Citizen Journalism
has gained much importance and the credit has to be given to the
internet. Citizen journalism may have saved many lives, provide a
platform for expressing one’s view over a matter but it comes
along with the responsibility. It will be very difficult for
government to regulate the citizen journalists. Therefore, one way
Bharati Law Review, Oct. – Dec., 2017 120

forward is creating awareness and to create responsible citizen

reporters.
References
1. Oxford Dictionaries, Citizen Journalism, available at:
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/citizen-journalism
(last visited on: October 21, 2017).

2. McMillian Dictionary, Citizen Journalism, available at:

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/buzzword/entries/citizen-
journalism.html (last visited on: October 21, 2017).

3. Collins Dictionary, Citizen Journalism, available at:

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/citizen-journalism
(last visited on: October 21, 2017).

4. Technopedia, Citizen Journalism, available at:

https://www.techopedia.com/definition/2386/citizen-journalism (last
visited on: October 21, 2017).

5. Article 19 (international organisation), Resources, available at:

https://www.article19.org/resources.php?lang=en (last visited on:
October 21, 2017).

6. Kaul Vineet, The Pros and Cons of New Media and Media Freedom,
available at: https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/the-pros-and-
cons-of-new-media-and-media-freedom-2165-7912.1000114.pdf (last
visited on: October 23, 2017).

7. Storch Gerry, The pros and cons of newspapers partnering with 'citizen
journalism' networks,
http://newmediaskool.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&i
d=187:the-pros-and-cons-of-newspapers-partnering-with-citizen-
journalism-networks&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50 (last visited on:
October 20, 2017).

8. Semary Hebatalla El, May Al Khaja, The Credibility of Citizen Journalism

and Traditional TV Journalism among Emirati Youth: Comparative Study,
http://www.aijcrnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_11_Novembe_2013/6.pdf
(last visited on: October 21, 2017).

9. Nelson Jenny, Pros and Cons of Citizen Journalism,

http://letstalkaboutstrategiccommunication.blogspot.in/2013/09/pros-
and-cons-of-citizen-journalism.html (last visited on: October 19, 2017).

10. Ingram Mathew, Two great examples of how journalism has changed for
the better, https://gigaom.com/2015/02/20/two-great-examples-of-how-
journalism-has-changed-for-the-better/ (last visited on: October 23, 2017).

11. Bell Melissa and Elizabeth Flock, ‘A Gay Girl in Damascus’ comes clean,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-gay-girl-in-damascus-
comes-clean/2011/06/12/AGkyH0RH_story.html (last visited on: October
22, 2017).

12. Platt Edward, Citizen Journalists Playing a Crucial Role in Syrian War,
http://time.com/3481790/syria-journalism-kobani/ (last visited on:
October 21, 2017).
Bharati Law Review, Oct. – Dec., 2017 121

13. Reporters without borders, citizen journalist sentenced to death for al-
jazeera interview, http://en.rsf.org/syria-citizen-journalist-sentenced-to-
18-05-2012,42641.html (last visited on: October 20, 2017).

14. Ingram, Mathew Social media has changed the way that war reporting
works — and that’s a good thing,
https://gigaom.com/2014/07/28/social-media-has-changed-the-way-
that-war-reporting-works-and-thats-a-good-thing/ (last visited on: October
21, 2017).

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