Balancing Individual Privacy with Press Freedom - 3139 Words

Balancing Individual Privacy with Press Freedom Alan F. Westin, a privacy expert at Columbia University, once wrote: Privacy is the claim of individuals, groups, or institutions to determine for themselves when, how, and to what extent information about them is communicated to others (self information control right). In this age of mass media, individual privacy has become a casualty of journalists’ feeding frenzy and it has become really hard for societies to determine the nature and process of information in the public domain. In this article I reflect on the problem in Nepal’s context. Despite being a social animal, every human being seeks seclusion and solitude within the open mirror of society. Privacy is inherent in the behavior†¦show more content†¦The current interim constitution (article 28) stipulates that except on the circumstance as provided by the law, the privacy of the person, his or her residence, property, document, statistics, correspondence and character is inviolable Similarly, the constitution of the country also guarantees freedom of the press (article 15 interim constitution, 2063). It ensures the right to freedom of press and publication. This right was included as a specific fundamental right in previous Constitution of Nepal 2047. Freedom of the press means the right to print and publish without any interference from the state or any public authority. The liberty of the press consists freedom from prior restraints upon publication of content. Freedom of the press also means freedom of dissemination, news and views from diverse and antagonistic sources for the knowledge and welfare of the people. The Press and Publication Act (2048), a new version of the earlier Press and Publication Act (2039), also guaranteed the constitutional freedom of the press. The Gali Beizzati Ain 2016 (such as in article 3 and 8) recognizes freedom of the press. It says that every human being shall enjoy free press, without any discrimination on the ground of race, color, sex etc. There are, however, very few International Conventions which guarantee right to privacy, but there are several conventions regarding press freedom. For example, the right to privacy is enumerated in article 12 of the UniversalShow MoreRelatedFreedom Of Expression Is Protected By Article 10 Of The European Convention On Human Rights1447 Words   |  6 Pages1 INTRODUCTION ‘Any restraint on press freedom is a risk to freedom and democracy itself.’ Despite this there are many restraints the press face; when defaming a person, reporting from the Youth Court, reporting previous convictions if in contempt of court, inter alias. 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