Dr. Tarlach McGonagle specialises in a broad range of topics relating to international and European human rights law, especially the rights to freedom of expression and religion; minority rights; participatory rights, and cultural and linguistic rights. His other main area of expertise is international, European and comparative media law and policy. Themes such as pluralism, diversity, tolerance and “hate speech” have a central place in his research.

Dr. McGonagle was awarded a Ph.D. by the University of Amsterdam (2008) for his thesis examining the interface between freedom of expression and minority rights under international law. He also holds an LL.M. degree in International Human Rights Law (University of Essex, 2001) and a B.A. International in Law and French (National University of Ireland, Galway, 1998).

He regularly writes expert reports for various branches of the Council of Europe, OSCE and other IGOs and NGOs. He was an invited expert speaker at the Thematic Discussion on “Racist Hate Speech” organised by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in 2012. In Spring 2013, he was a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Global Communication Studies (CGCS), Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania and a Visiting Fellow at the Rutgers Institute for Information Policy and Law (RIIPL), Rutgers School of Law - Camden, New Jersey.

He is an associate member of the (Netherlands) School of Human Rights Research. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the European Audiovisual Observatory. He is Coordinator of IViR's specialised masters programme, Informatierecht, and he coordinates and lectures on a number of the programme's compulsory and elective modules, and is the programme's dissertations coordinator.

13.06.2013

(with J. Esmeijer, O. Nieuwenhuis, C. Mijs, E. van der Broek, C. Versloot, N. Helberger en B. van der Sloot) Making User Created News Work, TNO-rapport, 27 December 2012.

04.06.2013

The troubled relationship between free speech and racist hate speech: the ambiguous roles of the media and internet, Expert Paper, Day of Thematic Discussion "Racist Hate Speech", 28 August 2012, UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, 81st Session, 6-31 August 2012.

16.11.2012

16.11.2012

16.11.2012

16.11.2012

16.11.2012

14.09.2012

01.06.2012

This book offers a rigorous, theory-based, and uniquely comprehensive, analysis of European and international legal standards shaping minorities’ right to freedom of expression. The analysis pays particular attention to the instrumental role played by traditional and new forms of media in ensuring that the right to freedom of expression of persons belonging to minorities is effective in practice.

The relevant international legal framework is set out in detail, including a careful examination of the relationship between generalist and minority-specific international human rights instruments. Due attention is paid to the historical circumstances in which key instruments were developed and the contemporary context in which they are now being interpreted. The analysis is also informed by an awareness of institutional and political dynamics. All of this forms the basis for the book’s central objective: to mount a critical evaluation of the existing international legal framework governing freedom of expression for minorities, while drawing on theoretical insights gained from human rights scholarship and communications science.

The first major focus of the evaluation is the regulation and restriction of expression to protect minority rights, in which issues such as pluralism, tolerance and “hate speech” feature centrally. Its second major focus, the regulation and facilitation of expression to promote minority rights, explores cultural and linguistic rights and media access questions.

See also the detailed Table of Contents. 

24.02.2012

(with S. Nikoltchev, eds.), Freedom of Expression and the Media: Standard-setting by the Council of Europe, (I) Committee of Ministers - IRIS Themes, Strasbourg: European Audiovisual Observatory 2011, v + 76 pp. + Appendix, 398 pp.

24.02.2011

(with S. Nikoltchev, eds.), Freedom of Expression and the Media: Standard-setting by the Council of Europe, (II) Parliamentary Assembly - IRIS Themes, Strasbourg: European Audiovisual Observatory 2011, v + 63 pp. + Appendix, 222 pp.

24.02.2011

Media Literacy: No Longer the Shrinking Violet of European Audiovisual Media Regulation?, in: Media Literacy, IRIS plus, 2011-3.

The lead article in this IRIS plus provides a critical analysis of how the European audiovisual regulatory and policy framework seeks to promote media literacy. It examines pertinent definitional issues and explores the main rationales for the promotion of media literacy as a regulatory and policy goal, paying particular attention to the specific interests of selected target groups and stake-holders. It then considers the extent to which those definitions, rationales and interests are reflected in relevant regulatory and policy instruments adopted by the European Union and the Council of Europe. The article concludes with a tentative prognosis for the future promotion of media literacy as a regulatory and policy goal for the European audiovisual sector.

09.08.2011

(with D.A. Korteweg) The Digital Dividend: Opportunities and Obstacles, in: Switchover to the Digital Dividend, IRIS plus, 2010-6.

The lead article in this IRIS plus sets out to trace the main lines of relevant law and policy debates about the digital dividend at the European level. It identifies the key issues at stake and critically analyses how the Council of Europe and European Union are engaging with the same. Other international standards and debates on other international platforms are examined too. The article concludes with a distillation of continuing and expected opportunities and challenges relating to the digital dividend.

27.01.2011

Promoting cultural diversity in the Irish broadcasting sector: an assessment of international standards and best practices with a view to their operationalisation in an Irish context, Study funded by a Broadcasting Authority of Ireland research grant, April 2010.

This study provides a panorama of international and European legal standards concerning the promotion of cultural diversity. It prises open the notion of cultural diversity, as understood in international legal standards and clarifies the extent to which those standards are relevant for law- and policy-making in respect of the Irish broadcasting sector. Taking technological, societal and legislative dynamics into account, as well as relevant policy initiatives at the European and international levels and in other countries, the study concludes with a call for the creation of a forum for high-level, inclusive and engaged discussion of the policy goal of promoting cultural diversity within the Irish (broadcast) media sector. A number of supplementary recommendations flesh out specific focuses and details of this central recommendation with a view to ensuring that it would be suitably tailored to, and of practical relevance for, the Irish broadcasting sector.

06.08.2010

European Public Law is available for people with an UvAnetID via Kluwer Law International

03.06.2010

28.04.2010

28.04.2010

Representation of Minorities: Rights of Access, in: Media and Human Rights, London, Clemens Nathan Research Centre 2009, p. 106-126.

This paper will examine the Council of Europe's efforts to create, consolidate and advance rights of access of minorities to the media in its standard-setting work. As such, relevant provisions of its three most salient treaties in this area, i.e., the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML), will be analysed. Notwithstanding the prima facie differences between the treaties in terms of their respective focuses and objectives, they also usefully complement each other in various ways. The present analysis will briefly show how each of the three treaties has contributed to the goal of ensuring representation in/access to the media for minorities.

28.04.2010

'Free expression and respect for others' and 'Participation in democratic society' in Y. Lange (red.), Living together: a handbook on Council of Europe standards on media’s contribution to social cohesion, intercultural dialogue, understanding, tolerance and democratic participation, Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing 2009, pp. 7-20 en 35-47.

These chapters provide an overview of Council of Europe standards on the relationships between: (i) freedom of expression and information, media pluralism and diversity and the protection of human dignity, and (ii) participation in democratic society and access to information and to the media.

Living together is available in different languages:

• French Vivre ensemble;
• Russian ЖИТЬ ВМЕСТЕ;
• Turkish Birlikte yaşsama;
• Ukrainian ЖИТИ РАЗОМ;
• Bulgarian   ДА ЖИВЕЕМ ЗАЕДНО.
   

(with Prof. T. Moring), Analysis of Information provided by DH-MIN members on the  Questionnaire on the access of national minorities to the new media in the information society, report prepared for the Committee of Experts on Issues Relating to the Protection of National Minorities (DH-MIN), Council of Europe, 9 March 2009, Doc. No. DH-MIN(2009)003.

This report provides an analysis of various Council of Europe States' descriptions of the legal and other measures they have adopted to promote national minorities' access to new media technologies. It follows on from earlier work by the authors for DH-MIN on the same theme (see below).

29.05.2009

The Promotion of Cultural Diversity via New Media Technologies: An Introduction to the Challenges of Operationalisation,

This article examines the notion of cultural diversity, explains why it should be promoted and assesses the important role of new media technologies in advancing that aim.

18.07.2008

The Quota Quandary: An Assessment of Articles 4-6 of the Television without Frontiers Directive in: David Ward (red.), The European Union and the Culture Industries: Regulation and the Public Interest, United Kingdom: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. (2008), pp. 187-212.

This chapter provides a critical evaluation of the scope, content and shortcomings of Articles 4-6 of the 'Television without Frontiers' Directive.

18.07.2008

European-level measures for promoting cultural diversity in broadcasting: quixotic tilting in a new technological era? in: Mikä Osa Yleisöllä? Yearbook of Communication Law 2007, P. Letto-Vanamo (ed.), Institute of International Economic Law (KATTI), Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki, Finland 2008, p. 119-136.

This article challenges the presumed relevance of Articles 4 & 5 of the TWF Directive for the promotion of cultural diversity in the European audiovisual sector. It argues that selected alternative regulatory provisions and other mechanisms hold greater potential for enhancing cultural diversity in a new communications environment. It also evaluates the continued feasibility of the objective of promoting cultural diversity in the current era of technological flux. The article flags and comments on several important developments in European audiovisual regulation that occured in 2007.

05.03.2008

The international and European legal standards for combating racist expression, paper in Expert seminar: Combating racism while respecting freedom of expression organised by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) - Proceedings, Strasbourg: ECRI 2007, p. 77-95.

19.09.2007

International and European legal standards for combating racist expression: selected current conundrums, in Expert seminar: Combating racism while respecting freedom of expression organised by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) - Proceedings, Strasbourg: ECRI 2007, p. 39-50.

19.09.2007

Safeguarding Human Dignity in the European Audiovisual Sector,

Human dignity is a very important notion in international human rights law. It is also a very broad notion. This article examines existing legal norms for its protection in the European audiovisual sector.

28.06.2007

Comments on the report on 'Access of national minorities to the media: new challenges', prepared for the Committee of Experts on Issues Relating to the Protecton of National Minorities (DH-MIN), Council of Europe, 20 November 2006, Doc. No. DH-MIN (2006)016.

The report, 'Access of national minorities to the media: new challenges', was drawn up by Prof. Tom Moring and comments on the report were also provided by Dr. Karol Jakubowicz.

06.12.2006

08.02.2011

‘Council of Europe approaches and legal developments under the European Convention on Human Rights’, paper presented at the roundtable discussion, "Combating racially motivated crime and hate crimes through legislation", organised by the Irish Human Rights Commission and Amnesty International (Irish section) in association with the [Irish] National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism, Dublin Castle, Ireland, 8 June 2005. 

This paper provides an overview and brief analysis of the Council of Europe's approaches to the struggle against racism, including relevant legal developments under the European Convention on Human Rights. In particular, it examines the interplay between anti-racism, anti-discrimination/pro-equality and freedom of expression objectives.

20.07.2005

This article explores a selection of issues influencing the access of persons belonging to national minorities to the media. It examines and evaluates the results to date of the formal monitoring of relevant provisions of the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. It makes a number of recommendations for enhancing the monitoring procedures in question.

14.10.2004

08.02.2011

‘Regulating minority-language use in broadcasting: international law and the Dutch national experience’, Mediaforum, 2004-5, p. 155-160.

This article considers the place of the new set of Guidelines on the use of Minority Languages in the Broadcast Media within the framework of existing international legal and political standards. Against this backdrop, it also examines relevant Dutch national policies, law and practice.

27.05.2004

(with A. Richter) ‘Regulation of Minority-Language Broadcasting’, IRIS plus (Supplement to IRIS - Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory), 2004-2.

This article provides a brief overview of the regulation of minority-language use in broadcasting: (i) as safeguarded by relevant Council of Europe instruments; (ii) in a selection of individual States with contrasting approaches to the topic (Ireland, Latvia, Poland, Russia and Ukraine), and (iii) as promoted by a new set of international Guidelines on the Use of Minority Languages in the Broadcast Media.

10.03.2004

"Practical and Regulatory Issues Facing the Media Online", in Christiane Hardy & Christian Möller, eds., Spreading the Word on the Internet: 16 Answers to 4 Questions (Vienna, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, 2003), pp. 81-94.

The first part of this article briefly sketches some of the challenges to be met by the media in an online context. The second part teases out the notion of co-regulation of the media, explaining why it has entered into relevant discussions at this point in time and what its essential features are. A comprehensive assessment of the suitability of such regulatory models for the Internet was, however, beyond the scope of the article.

27.01.2004

'Treoirlínte ar theangacha', Foinse, 21 December 2003, p. 23.

This article, written for Foinse - the main national, Irish-language weekly newspaper (see further: http://www.foinse.ie), examines a new set of international guidelines on the use of minority languages in the broadcast media. It also examines how current broadcasting policies, laws and practice in Ireland measure up to the Guidelines.

20.01.2004

(with B. Davis Noll and M. Price, eds.) ‘Minority-language related broadcasting and legislation in the OSCE’, Study commissioned by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, carried out by the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy (PCMLP), Oxford University, and the Institute for Information Law (IViR) of the University of Amsterdam, April 2003.

This is a comprehensive survey of the regulation of (minority) language usage in the broadcasting sectors of the 55 Participating States of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The study includes a detailed comparative overview that presents the trends identified in States throughout the OSCE region against the background of existing international legal norms. The country reports, for their part, document and contextualise formal prescriptions and proscriptions of language and other measures affecting the use of (minority) languages in the audiovisual sector.

The overview comprises key elements of the study and seeks to synthesise and analyse the information contained in the country reports.

24.09.2003

Ireland chapter in T. McGonagle, B. Davis Noll and M. Price, eds., ‘Minority-language related broadcasting and legislation in the OSCE’,

Ireland represents a particularly interesting example of bilingualism in that the Irish language - the country's first official language, as set out by the Constitution - is not the dominant language for the majority of the population. A body of pertinent legal provisions exists and a number of political and cultural initiatives have also been set in motion with a view to increasing the use of the Irish language in the audiovisual sector. All of these are accordingly examined in the present chapter.

20.01.2004

26.09.2003

Protection of Human Dignity, Distribution of Racist Content (Hate Speech), IRIS Special: Co-Regulation of the Media in Europe (Strasbourg, the European Audiovisual Observatory, 2003), pp. 43-46.

This text is based on a presentation given by the author at a workshop organised by the European Audiovisual Observatory, IViR and the EMR at the European Union Institute in Florence on 6-7 September 2002. The workshop was entitled "Co-Regulation of the Media in Europe" and this text explores existing and possible regulatory approaches to "hate speech". It examines in particular the potential role that co-regulation could play in implementing the public policy objective of tackling hate speech. It also briefly sketches relevant internation legal norms.

30.09.2003

08.02.2011

‘Co-Regulation of the Media in Europe: The Potential for Practice of an Intangible Idea’, IRIS Plus (Supplement to IRIS - Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory), 2002-10.

27.11.2002

‘Wresting (Racial) Equality from Tolerance of Hate Speech', 23 Dublin University Law Journal. 2001-21, p. 21-54.

This article begins with a brief assessment of theories of tolerance. It then examines the difficulties facing the coupling of freedom of expression with the struggle against racism. Relevant international instruments are evaluated, as is the general effectiveness of so-called hate speech laws. The article includes a comprehensive analysis of case-law on hate speech from the UN Human Rights Committee and the European Court of Human Rights. It also contains a focus on negationism.

24.11.2004

Ireland: Milestones in Online Self-Regulation, Computer und Recht International 2002-3, p. 93-94

This article describes two significant developments concerning self-regulation of the Internet in Ireland: (i) the adoption by the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland of its first Code of Practice and Ethics, and (ii) the publication of the first major report by the Irish (child pornography) hotline service.

30.09.2003

Ireland: Future Internet Developments, Computer und Recht International 2002-1, p. 31

This article provides an overview of a public consultation process on the future development of the Internet in Ireland which was carried out by the relevant Irish regulatory authority. The focus of the consultation embraced online communications services; access and consumer issues.

30.09.2003

Does the Existing Regulatory Framework for Television Apply to the New Media, Expert Seminar on “The European Convention on Transfrontier Television in an Evolving Broadcasting Environment”, Strasbourg, 6 December 2001 (This article was based on a previous publication by Tarlach Mc Gonagle: ‘Does the Existing Regulatory Framework for Television Apply to the New Media?’, IRIS Plus (Supplement to IRIS - Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory 2001-6).

This article investigates whether the so-called “new media services” could or should be governed by the existing European-level framework for the regulation of television broadcasting services (as determined by the European Convention on Transfrontier Television and the EU “Television without Frontiers” Directive). It argues against piecemeal and/or large-scale adaptations of the existing regulatory structures for this purpose.

10.05.2002

Rabharta Domhanda i gCoinne an Chiníochais, Comhar, November 2001.

This article, which appeared in Comhar, one of the leading Irish-language monthly magazines, examines the intertwined destinies of two historical events which took place in September 2001: the convening in Durban of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance and the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York a few days after the conclusion of the World Conference. The heightening of racist tensions in the aftermath of the bombing is likely to render the implementation of the Declaration and Programme of Action agreed upon at the World Conference even more difficult than would otherwise have been the case, the author argues.

07.05.2002

‘Freedom of Expression: New and Existing Challenges’, OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting, Vienna, 12-13 March 2001.

This is an in-depth report on the deliberations of a recent OSCE Meeting on Freedom of Expression. The three main themes of the meeting were: legal and non-legal frameworks, including criminal defamation laws; the role of free speech in advancing the objectives of the OSCE and broadening access to new information technologies. The report also sets the meeting in context by outlining the OSCE’s commitments to various aspects of freedom of expression.

07.05.2002

‘Changing Aspects of Broadcasting: New Territory and New Challenges’, IRIS Plus (Supplement to IRIS - Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory), 2001-10.

This article provides a comparative overview of distinctions between traditional broadcasting services and new media services in the national legal systems of: Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. It then offers a broad-ranging exploration of broadcasters’ involvement in new media services. The latter section places particular emphasis on the activities of public service broadcasters.

25.03.2002

Distinguishing freedom of expression from hate speech, 2 Metro Éireann p. 15 (No. 7, November 2001), at p. 15 (Metro Éireann is a monthly newspaper catering for the needs and interests of immigrants in Ireland. See further http://www.metroeireann.com).

This article offers a brief exploration of the interaction between freedom of expression and "hate speech" under international law.

09.12.2001

Achieving global alliance against racism, 2 Metro Éireann p. i (Special Supplement on the World Conference Against Racism, No. 6, October 2001), at pp. i, iii (Metro Éireann is a monthly newspaper catering for the needs and interests of immigrants in Ireland. See further http://www.metroeireann.com).

This short article argues that the impact of the UN World Conference Against Racism will be significant, but not necessarily immediate.

09.12.2001

Freedom of Expression and Limits on Racist Speech: A Difficult Symbiosis 13 Interights Bulletin – A Review of the International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights, p. 135 (No. 3, September 2001), at pp. 135-136 (See further: http://www.interights.org)

This article offers a concise overview of the often problematic interaction between freedom of expression and anti-racism under international law.

09.09.2001

This report provides an overview of the changing face of broadcasting law and practice in a number of South-East European countries. It also analyses the status quo in these countries in light of international human rights standards, in particular as regards freedom of expression.

09.09.2001

Updated 13.06.2013