LingvaLexa Participates in the Launch of Speech Crimes in the Digital Era: The PJI Guidelines
\ Speech crimes – incitement, propaganda, and disinformation – are among the most complex and consequential issues in contemporary international criminal law. As digital platforms and artificial intelligence reshape how speech is produced, amplified, and weaponised, the legal frameworks governing accountability have struggled to keep pace. A major new publication seeks to address this gap.
Earlier this month, LingvaLexa's Head, Anna Vyshniakova, participated in the launch of Speech Crimes in the Digital Era: The Peace and Justice Initiative Guidelines, co-edited by Dr. Matthew Gillett (University of Essex) and an international team of experts.
The public launch event at Leiden University College at The Hague brought together an exceptional group of practitioners and scholars for a substantive discussion on the state and future of speech crimes law.
Building on the 2018 Hartford Guidelines on Speech Crimes in International Criminal Law, the new PJI Guidelines bring together a comprehensive set of recommendations for investigating, prosecuting, litigating, and adjudicating speech crimes in the digital and AI era. They address, among other things: the two-step approach to linguistic and legal interpretation of speech acts; evidence preservation from social media; the role of disinformation in establishing criminal responsibility; corporate responsibility; and other relevant topics.
For LingvaLexa – an organisation whose work lies at the intersection of forensic linguistics and international criminal accountability – these are not abstract questions. They are the challenges we navigate in our casework every day. We very much look forward to engaging with the full volume and sharing it with our law enforcement partners, as we believe it has strong potential to advance accountability in ongoing cases.
The following day, Anna Vyshniakova, the Head of LingvaLexa, participated in a closed expert roundtable convened as a follow-up to the book launch, gathering a group of international law scholars, prosecutors, and researchers to exchange views on the guidelines and discuss future directions for the field. LingvaLexa presented its work and research on speech crimes in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine including our research on propaganda, incitement, and disinformation as enabling tools of atrocity crimes. We were grateful for the opportunity to contribute to these discussions and look forward to building on the collaborations and exchanges that emerged from them.
Our sincere thanks to Dr. Matthew Gillett and the Peace and Justice Initiative team for the invitation, their generosity, and their continued commitment to advancing this important area of international criminal law.
