STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — A convicted sex offender is asking the Norwegian Supreme Court to declare that social media access is a human right.
The case before the court Thursday involves a man who molested a minor and used the Snapchat messaging app to connect with young boys.
The unidentified offender was sentenced last year to 13 months in prison and banned from using Snapchat for two years.
His lawyers argue that depriving him of his account is unlawful under the European Convention on Human Rights.
The case turns on how vital social media have become for freedom of expression, even though the court must decide the case through laws that predate such sites.
“The case raises important questions about the extent to which the state can restrict access to social media platforms, which are significant tools for exercising the right to freedom of expression and maintaining social connections,” defense lawyer John Christian Elden said.
A November 2023 appeal against the ban failed with the state successfully arguing it was “proportionately measured against the fact that the defendant has used Snapchat to exploit children sexually.” The Appeal Court added that he still had the right to use other social media. If the Supreme Court also upholds the decision, the offender could attempt to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
The European convention has been used before to test the limits on Norwegian justice. Anders Behring Breivik, the far-right extremist who murdered 77 people in 2011, lost a court challenge in February that argued being held in isolation while serving his prison sentence amounted to inhumane punishment under the convention.
Signatories to the ECHR agree to abide by 18 articles guaranteeing citizens rights including life, liberty and freedom of expression. Norway was the second country to ratify the convention in 1952, after the United Kingdom.
Snapchat, run by Snap Inc., allows users to send and receive messages that disappear once they are read. Users also can physically locate other users who opt in to location tracking.
Snap prohibits child sexual exploitation on the app but allows accounts to be create anonymously. In an email it said, “when we disable accounts for sexual exploitation and grooming behavior, we also take steps to block the associated device and other accounts connected to the user from creating another Snapchat account.”
Snap disabled 343,865 accounts connected with child sexual exploitation in the second half of 2023. It sanctioned 879 accounts in Norway though it is not clear how many of these were permanently disabled.
The Norwegian court will issue its ruling in the coming weeks.
A view of the interior of the Supreme Court, in Oslo, Oct. 31, 2023. A convicted sex offender is asking the Norwegian Supreme Court to declare social media access is a human right. The case before the court Thursday, May 2, 2024 involves a man who molested a minor and used the Snapchat messaging app to connect with young boys. (Martin Solhaug Standal/NTB Scanpix via AP)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark learned some tough lessons from her first two WNBA tests.
She's struggled with fouls, expectations and, like most rookies, making a smooth transition from college ball to the pro level. And, here, there's no grading curve, as Clark found out Thursday night.
Two-time league MVP Breanna Stewart ruined Clark's regular season home debut by scoring 31 points to lead the New York Liberty to a 102-66 win in front of a sellout crowd of 17,247.
“I think this is how you want everything to be, you want a sellout crowd like this,” Stewart said. “It gives you a little bit of a playoff atmosphere feel because usually in the playoffs, the games are sold out. We might be changing our terminology if we're just going to continue to set the precedent of sellouts home or away."
Clark's presence has changed everything about the women's sport — except the wins and losses for Indiana, which hasn't made the playoffs since 2016 is now 0-2 in the Clark era.
This game was Indianapolis' most anticipated rookie debut since Peyton Manning with the NFL's Indianapolis Colts in 1998, but things didn't go according to plan and.
She picked up three fouls in the first half and a fourth early in the third quarter. When Clark went to bench early in the second quarter, she took out her frustrations on a towel and at one point after a Fever miscue she flipped the ball over her head to the ref.
Clark finished with nine points, seven rebounds and six assists and showed some progress by finishing with three turnovers — none after the first quarter — and a dramatic improvement over the 10 she had in Tuesday night's season opener. Clark also was 2 of 8 from the field and just 1 of 7 on 3-pointers.
“I have great perspective of on everything and I think the same is true of my college career,” she said before the game. "There were some moments that were absolutely amazing and there were some moments where I was not happy with how I played and how I performed and how my team performed. But that’s just life. That’s just basketball.”
Clark did not speak with reporters after the game though she did two lengthy interview sessions earlier Thursday.
Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones each scored 14 for New York, which has won eight straight over Indiana. Jones also had 10 rebounds.
Aliyah Boston had a game-high 12 points and seven rebounds, and the Fever came away looking to do more to help Clark.
“People are playing her aggressively and we can do a better job of trying to help her get some space and get free,” Indiana forward Katie Lou Samuelson said. “We want her to keep fighting. We want to keep figuring out the best way to work with her and, like I said, I think we can continue to help her.”
The Liberty didn't just make life difficult for Clark, they made things tough for Indiana.
Stewart helped New York seize control by taking a 25-16 lead after one quarter. And when the Fever cut the deficit to 32-27 midway through the second quarter, Stewart answered with four straight points to spur a 12-0 run that gave the Liberty a 44-27 cushion late in the first half.
Indiana finally responded by closing the third quarter with 12 straight points, the first seven coming courtesy of Clark, to make it 67-56 after three.
But the defending Eastern Conference champs opened the fourth quarter on a 12-0 spurt and cruised to their second straight victory.
Indianapolis is quickly becoming a favorite destination for Clark's former teammates and coaches. Ex-Hawkeyes guard Gabbie Marshall showed up and posed for a photo with her longtime friend following Clark's first home preseason game last week.
On Thursday, the entourage included former coach, Lisa Bluder, who announced her retirement Monday, and new Hawkeyes coach, Jan Jensen — Bluder's longtime assistant.
The Fever and Liberty head back to New York on Saturday for a rematch.
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark warms up before a WNBA basketball game against the New York Liberty, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Fans watch Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark warm up for the team's WNBA basketball game against the New York Liberty, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
A person watches Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark warm up for the team's basketball game against the New York Liberty, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Fans watch Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark warm up for the team's WNBA basketball game against the New York Liberty, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
