Responsibility of the Media for International Crimes

The research explores the existing means of accountability of media organizations for their involvement in the commission of international crimes. Historical (the World War II, the genocide in Rwanda and the armed conflict in Yugoslavia) and current events (incitement to violence in Myanmar on Facebook) illustrate that speech and the media are able to significantly contribute to the commission of international crimes. The information has always been a valuable tool of influence of the public. The development of communications technology and a broad presence of the media online increased the role of those who hold information leading to enhanced attention to the media organizations from the international community. There are no specific studies dedicated solely to the issue of responsibility of the media as an organization with respect to international crimes. The studies are focused on two specific speech based crimes (atrocity speech) such as incitement to genocide or crime of persecution which can be committed by natural persons including journalists or editors. The scope of research is the traditional and online media, analyzed from the perspective of their involvement in international crimes, as well as how the issue is regulated at the international level. The paper analyses existing international legal instruments of accountability of the media, both binding and non-binding norms. We believe that modern media organizations, especially the ones operating on the Internet, had acquired enough influence and resources to be regarded as major actors on a par with states. That is why it is possible to consider introducing corporate criminal responsibility for commission or complicity in commission of international crimes. At the same time, international law has not yet developed a clear standard of behavior of the media with respect to the use of potentially hateful information. Apart from the Introduction, Conclusion and List of References, the paper consists of two chapters. The first Chapter explores individual criminal responsibility of the media members for international crimes. The second Chapter contains an analysis of international non-binding rules and the national legislature governing responsibilities of media organizations as corporations with respect to the sensitive information and a possible way of introducing the corporate criminal responsibility especially in relation to the role of social media (the modern media organisations) in the commission of international crimes.