Freedom of expression online and the protection of right to privacy online are the topics in focus of the interprofessional seminar, held on 25 and 26 October in Sarajevo. Dirk Voorhoof, professor of media rights and the expert of the Council of Europe for freedom of expression, presented a few cases which were sent to the European Court for Human Rights in the past few years, and are concerned with the Article 10 of European Convention on Human Rights and the internet. Besides these cases, concerning hate speech and incitement to violence, slander and assault on the internet, recent court practice of the European Court for Human Rights shows increasing importance of issues like protection of journalists' sources online, internet access and the responsibility of web portals for the content published on their platforms, as well as the issues connected with responsibility regarding user generated content (UGC).

Attendees of the seminar, representatives of media and judiciary, among which there were prosecutors and judges of different levels from different parts of BiH, have actively participated and discussed the presented examples of the court practice of the European Court.

The seminar was organized within the framework of the joint EU/CoE project “Reinforcing Judicial Expertise on Freedom of Expression and the Media in South-East Europe (JUFREX)”, together with Press Council BiH. The topic of the second day of the seminar was the protection of privacy online with the Council of Europe expert Inger Hoedt-Rasmussen from Denmark. Local experts from the Regulatory Agency BiH, Press Council BiH and the BiH media also participated to the seminar.

This event has been implemented with the financial support of the EU and the Council of Europe. Attitudes and opinions presented do not necessarily reflect official attitudes of the European Union.