International Law Approach to the Balancing Role of the Media in Violation of Human Rights during crisis

Abstract

In the circumstances of disorder and crisis, human rights are violated more.The Covid-19 pandemic has been one of the most critical and bitter situations in history, when governments imposed many restrictions to fight coronavirus and faced various violations of human rights. Taking actions such as social distancing, traffic limitations and self-quarantine led to reduced access to some rights like free flow of information. In this conditions, the presence of a balancing tool protects people's rights. It is the media that in addition to human rights institutions, can help people access their basic rights based on the principle of media social responsibility. Media play a supportive role in human rights as can decline the breach of human rights law as a community watch and act as a bridge between citizens, governments, and international institutions. Without being asked, in the crises and emergence, the mission of the Media is changing due to a possibility of violating the obligations of governments. The descriptive-analytic approach of the current study is based on the assumption that how the media can be another pillar of human rights organizations during crises. This research showed that media warrant the right to health by freedom of speech approach through free distribution of information and impartiality. However, undeveloped countries’s law system such as Iran also does not have binding rules that can be used during pandemics. In the current study, the media tried to communicate the reality and truth in most parts of reports; however, it is not acceptable that they acted independently of governments.