Essay On Privacy And Freedom Of Media

PRIVACY AND FREEDOM OF THE PRESS IN THE AGE OF NEW MEDIA

The debate between privacy and the media is not new. The interrelation between the two has been discussed by many scholars as well as the courts across many jurisdictions. A recent US court decision valuing Hulk Hogan’s privacy over freedom of the press in the Gawker case has given a fresh stimulus to this on-going debate in the context of internet media. This decision calls for a review of the notion that privacy rights conflict with freedom of the press, especially in cases involving a celebrity or a public figure. The media, while exercising its freedom of the press, under appropriate circumstances, can publish private information of celebrities if it is newsworthy or in the public interest. However, with the advent of invasive journalism and popular internet culture, characterization of media, or even a celebrity, has become gradually difficult. Privacy rights is an essential component of freedom of speech, but in cases where the former are in question, freedom of the press cannot be equated with

It is often believed that privacy is in conflict with free speech, but that is not the case. Privacy, on the other hand, is an essential element required to exercise freedom of speech. People will not be able to communicate freely if they have even the slightest fear of public disclosure of private facts and thereby causing a chilling effect on free speech. However, the later part of the essay argues that individual privacy and freedom of the press are at loggerheads. This typically happens when the media publishing about the private life of a celebrity leads to a controversy. Nevertheless, even in the presence of such a conflict, it is not advisable to limit privacy rights to give way for freedom of the press, as that would seriously hamper individual autonomy and