1. International Law
Iceland is a member of OON, United Nations, NATO, European Free Trade Association, Europian Economic Aria.
The The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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.
Iceland is also a member state of council of Europe:
European Convention and Treaties in the Media field
The main regulatory body governing information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Iceland is the Post and Telecom Affairs (PTA), which is an independent center under the direction of the Ministry of the Interior. The PTA supervises development, logistics, and fair competition in the field of telecommunications networks. Decisions of the PTA may be referred to the Rulings Committee for Electronic Communications and Postal Affairs. The minister of the interior appoints the three members of the Appellate Committee, following the nomination by the Supreme Court. The chairman and vice chairman must comply with the competence qualifications applying to Supreme Court judges. The members of the committee are appointed for a period of four years. In addition to the PTA, the Ministry of the Interior is responsible for the legal matters relating to online content.
A new media law was established on September 1, 2011, and continued to stir debate in 2012 and 2013. While the intention of the law was to create greater press freedom through a comprehensive framework governing broadcast, press, and online media, the creation of an oversight State Media Commission has been criticized. According to the law, the minister of education, science and culture appoints five persons to the Media Commission for terms of four years at a time. Two representatives are appointed in accordance with a nomination by the Supreme Court, one in accordance with a nomination by the standing Committee of Rectors of Icelandic Higher Education Institutions, and one in accordance with a nomination by the National Union of Icelandic Journalists. The fifth is appointed by the minister without an outside nomination.
The Media Commission has no authority to deal with media concentration (a major concern of public debate in Iceland), but new legislation was put forth in 2013 that would give the Competition Authority oversight responsibility in consultation with the Media Commission. The bill was passed as an amendment to the new media law in March 2013. The amendment gives the Competition Authority other means and measures to deal with competition cases when media companies are concerned. Thus, the Competition Authority can look at issues such as plurality and whether there will be a decrease in newsrooms resulting from mergers and acquisitions, for example. According to the bill, the Media Commission shall in such cases give its opinion from a media authority’s perspective. The commission has extensive powers to impose fines on media outlets, as well as requiring media outlets to register with a detailed “editorial strategy,” meaning that all media companies must set their own rules for editorial independence in cooperation with the Association of Journalists or a similar entity. In 2012, all media companies had to set such rules as part of the process of self-regulation, and no decisions have yet been made regarding online media by the Icelandic Media Commission.
Access to information and online communication is free from government interference. Iceland is not a member of the European Union; however, since the country is part of the European Economic Area, it has agreed to follow legislation regarding consumer protection and business law similar to the other member states, meaning that the legal status of file-sharing websites such as Pirate Bay is up for debate. In April 2013, the Pirate Bay website relocated to Iceland, giving it a “.is” domain name. According to Icelandic law, the registrant is responsible for ensuring that the use of the domain is within the limits of the law. In April 2013, the Icelandic Supreme Court confirmed the Reykjavík District Court’s ruling ordering Valitor (the Icelandic partner of Visa and MasterCard) to remove the unlawful block on donations to the website for the organization WikiLeaks.
3. Media Legislation
Iceland is becoming a data haven with the most progressive internet laws in the world, due to the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, which is now a project of the International Modern Media Institute.
The IMMI legislation will contain the following elements:
Freedom of information: An "ultra-modern" Freedom of Information Act, based on the 2009 Council of Europe and OAS recommendations as well as modern elements in the FOI laws of Estonia, Scotland, the UK and Norway as well as the Aarhus convention.
Whistleblower protections: Protection for those who step forward to reveal important matters in the public interest, based on the US False Claims Act and the US Military Whistleblowers Act
Source protection: Protection for anonymous sources who attempt to communicate to the public after a promise of confidentiality by a journalist or media organisation. Based on new EEA legislation.
Source-journalist communications protection: Protection for the communications between an anonymous source and a media organisation and internally within a media organisation prior to publication. Based on the Belgium source protection law of 2005.
Limiting prior restraint: Prior restraint is coercion of a publisher, by a government authority, or through the judicial system, to prevent publication of a specific matter. While the Icelandic Constitution provides the right to freedom of expression, small modifications are needed to reduce the possibility of prior restraint.
Protection of intermediaries (Internet service providers): Immunity for "mere conduits", ISPs and telecommunications carriers.
Protection from "libel tourism" and other extrajudicial abuses: Non-observance of foreign judgements that violate Icelandic freedom of expression protection, and the ability to file a counter-suit in Iceland against a party who engages in a calculated attempt to suppress the speech freedoms of an Icelandic entity. Inspired by legislation passed by the states of New York and Florida and proposed legislation elsewhere.
Statute of limitations on publishing liabilities: Recent rulings in Europe maintain that for Internet publications, each page view is publication afresh, regardless of how long ago the material was first released. This has resulted in the silent removal of investigative newspaper stories, including those over five years old, from the online archives of the Guardian and other major newspapers.
Process protections: The majority of legal suits related to publishing settle before final judgement. Hence the court process itself must ensure that it is not used to suppress speech through unequal access to justice, subpoenas, or other interlocutory motions. Process protections (called anti-SLAPP laws in the US) permit a judge to declare the matter a free speech related case, at which point protections are activated to prevent such abuses.
Virtual limited liability companies: Based on the LLC legislation used in the US state of Vermont.
4. Freedom of information
“Constitution of the Republic of Iceland”
Article 73
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and belief.
Everyone shall be free to express his thoughts, but shall also be liable to answer for them in court. The law may never provide for censorship or other similar limitations to freedom of expression.
Freedom of expression may only be restricted by law in the interests of public order or the security of the State, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights or reputation of others, if such restrictions are deemed necessary and in agreement with democratic traditions.
Freedom of expression is protected under Article 73 of the constitution, and the government generally does not interfere in the independent media’s presentation of a wide variety of views. However, there are limitations on free speech, including fines or imprisonment for those who belittle the doctrines of officially recognized religious groups or deliver verbal assaults based on race, religion, nationality, or sexual orientation.
A new media control law passed in 2011 was intended enhance press freedom through comprehensive regulation of broadcast, print, and web-based media. However, press freedom organizations opposed several components of the legislation, particularly the creation of the State Media Committee, a state-run body with sweeping powers to impose fines on media outlets that do not comply with the law. Another provision requires outlets to register and detail their “editorial strategy.” Nonregistration can result in fines of approximately $1,600 per day. An outlet may also be fined for not adhering to its stated editorial strategy. The new law includes a ban on reporting that might encourage hate speech based on “race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, nationality, opinion or cultural, economic, social or other standing in society.” Journalists fear that the economic and social standing portion of this clause could be used by powerful interests to incriminate journalists if any negative information is published about them. Two positive safeguards afforded by the law are editorial independence from owners and the protection of journalists’ sources.
Iceland’s libel laws have been a concern in recent years. The courts’ handling of libel cases is seen by journalists as too rigid, leading to frivolous lawsuits that aim to silence critical press. In July 2012, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered the Icelandic government to pay damages to journalists Erla Hlynsdóttir and Björk Eiðsdóttir, who had been found guilty of defamation under the old media law because they had quoted sources that made defamatory statements. The ECHR found that quoting a source who makes possibly defamatory comments could not in itself be seen as defamatory, and that the correct journalistic ethical practices were in place. Under Article 51 of the new media law, journalists can no longer be held responsible for potentially libelous quotes from sources. Nevertheless, libel cases continued to be adjudicated in 2012, and some were decided under the old law. In November, the Supreme Court overturned a prior ruling and convicted journalist Svavar Halldórsson of the National Broadcasting Service of defaming a business tycoon by accusing him of financial illegalities. Halldórsson was ordered to pay 300,000 kronur ($2,400) in damages.
The Freedom of Information Act of 1996 guarantees access to government information for all individuals without requiring a reason for the request. An ambitious legislative proposal known as the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative (IMMI) was approved by the parliament in 2010. IMMI is intended to create a global safe haven with unprecedented transparency and legal protection for the press, bloggers, and whistle-blowers. The proposed reforms were still under way at the end of 2012, with the Icelandic lobby organization International Modern Media Institute spearheading the process, but the project was progressing slowly. Although the 2011 media law provides source protection—a pillar of IMMI—many other aspects of the new law are considered setbacks to IMMI’s reform goals.
The country’s wide range of publications includes both independent and party-affiliated newspapers, but the financial crisis that began in 2008 has led to cutbacks in both broadcast and print media. The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service (RUV) runs radio and television stations funded by license fees as well as advertising revenue. RUV was reestablished as a public corporation in 2007, having previously operated as a state-owned institution; it has public-service obligations, and holds a market share of around 50 percent. Media concentration is a concern in Iceland, as the company 365 controls much of the country’s private television and radio broadcasting, one of the major national newspapers, and several magazines. In 2012, around 96 percent of the population accessed the internet, and 72 percent were reported to be on the social-networking site Facebook. The internet is not restricted by the government.
6. Other Legislation
Universal Copyright Convention
Article V
1. Copyright shall include the exclusive right of the author to make, publish, and authorize the making and publication of translations of works protected under this Convention.
2. However, any Contracting State may, by its domestic legislation, restrict the right of translation of writings, but only subject to the following provisions:
If, after the expiration of a period of seven years from the date of the first publication of a writing, a translation of such writing has not been published in the national language or languages, as the case may be, of the Contracting State, by the owner of the right of translation or with his authorization, any national of such Contracting State may obtain a non-exclusive licence from the competent authority thereof to translate the work and publish the work so translated in any of the national languages in which it has not been published; provided that such national, in accordance with the procedure of the State concerned, establishes either that he has requested, and been denied, authorization by the proprietor of the right to make and publish the translation, or that, after due diligence on his part, he was unable to find the owner of the right. A licence may also be granted on the same conditions if all previous editions of a translation in such language are out of print.
If the owner of the right of translation cannot be found, then the applicant for a licence shall send copies of his application to the publisher whose name appears on the work and, if the nationality of the owner of the right of translation is known, to the diplomatic or consular representative of the State of which such owner is a national, or to the organization which may have been designated by the government of that State. The licence shall not be granted before the expiration of a period of two months from the date of the dispatch of the copies of the application.
Due provision shall be made by domestic legislation to assure to the owner of the right of translation a compensation which is just and conforms to international standards, to assure payment and transmittal of such compensation, and to assure. a correct translation of the work.
The original title and the name of the author of the work shall be printed on all copies of the published translation. The licence shall be valid only for publication of the translation in the territory of the Contracting State where it has been applied for. Copies so published may be imported and sold in another Contracting State if one of the national languages of such other State is the same language as that into which the work has been so translated, and if the domestic law in such other State makes provision for such licences and does not prohibit such importation and sale. Where the foregoing conditions do not exist, the importation and sale of such copies in a Contracting State shall be governed by its domestic law and its agreements. The licence shall not be transferred by the licensee.
The licence shall not be granted when the author has withdrawn from circulation all copies of the work.
7. Self Regulation
Iceland Code: Icelandic Press Council Rules of Ethics in Journalism
(Adopted by the Icelandic Press Council in 1988).
In their work, journalists of all media must constantly bear in mind the basic rules of human relations, and the public's right to information, freedom of expression and criticism.
Clause 1
A journalist aims to do nothing which may bring his profession or professional organisation, newspaper or newsroom, into disrepute. He must avoid anything which may be deleterious to the public's opinion of the journalist's work, or damage the interests of the profession. A journalist must always be honourable in his dealings with colleagues.
Clause 2
A journalist is aware of his personal responsibility for all that he writes. He bears in mind that he is generally perceived as a journalist, even when not expressing himself as such, in writing or the spoken word. A journalist respects necessary the confidentiality of his sources.
Clause 3
A journalist observes the highest possible standards in gathering information, processing this information, and in presenting it, and shows the utmost tact in sensitive cases. He avoids all that may cause unnecessary pain or humiliation to the innocent, or those who have suffered.
Clause 4
Should a journalist accept a bribe or use threats in connection with publication of material, this is counted a very serious violation. Journalists must always be conscious of when names should be published for the sake of public safety, or in the public interest. In accounts of legal and criminal cases, journalists must observe the general rule that every person is innocent until proven guilty.
Clause 5
A journalist must do his best to avoid conflicts of interest, for instance by not reporting on companies or interest groups in which he himself is involved. He must primarily serve the interests of the reader, and the honour of the journalistic profession in all that he undertakes under the aegis of his job.
A journalist writes always on the basis of his convictions. He makes sure not to confuse editorial material of clear informative and educational value with advertising in pictorial and / or written form.
This code of ethics does not limit the freedom of expression of journalists who write, under their full name, clearly defined items in newspapers, e.g. criticism, where the writer's personal views are of the essence.
Clause 6
Any person who believes that a journalist has offended against the above code, and whose interests are at stake, can make a complaint to the Ethics Committee of the Icelandic Union of Journalists within two months of publication, provided the item published is not the subject of court action at the same time.
