Historical Origins and Legal Framework:
– Ancient Athenian democratic principle of free speech in 6th or early 5th century BC.
– Advocacy for freedom of speech by figures like Erasmus, Milton, and Edward Coke.
– Establishment of constitutional rights of freedom of speech in documents like England’s Bill of Rights 1689 and the Swedish Freedom of the Press Act of 1766.
– International legal frameworks such as Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and regional conventions protecting freedom of expression.
Relationship to Other Rights and International Recognition:
– Freedom of speech’s relationship with other rights, including the right to a fair trial, privacy, and criticism of public figures.
– Enshrinement of freedom of speech in various international human rights instruments like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
– Recognition of freedom of speech as a negative right, where the government is obligated to take no action against speakers based on their views.
Limitations and Boundaries:
– Common limitations to freedom of speech, such as libel, slander, obscenity, and hate speech.
– Justifications for limitations based on principles like the harm principle by John Stuart Mill and the offense principle.
– Challenges posed by the digital age to freedom of speech and efforts to measure countries’ adherence to the right to opinion and expression.
Impact on Governance and Society:
– The impact of freedom of speech on governance quality, social balance, and the role of opposition.
– Importance of a free press for development agencies in supporting informed electorates and accountable governance.
– Contribution of social interactions and discussions to knowledge and community direction.
Countries with Restrictions and Content Viewed as Harmful:
– Countries with restrictions on freedom of speech like Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Poland.
– Examples of illegal acts related to freedom of speech, such as Armenian genocide denial and blasphemy laws in countries like Austria and France.
– Instances of policies restricting freedom of speech in public institutions and landmark cases in the history of freedom of speech.
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognised as a human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights law by the United Nations. Many countries have constitutional law that protects free speech. Terms like free speech, freedom of speech, and freedom of expression are used interchangeably in political discourse. However, in a legal sense, the freedom of expression includes any activity of seeking, receiving, and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used.
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Article 19 of the UDHR states that "everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference" and "everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice". The version of Article 19 in the ICCPR later amends this by stating that the exercise of these rights carries "special duties and responsibilities" and may "therefore be subject to certain restrictions" when necessary "[f]or respect of the rights or reputation of others" or "[f]or the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals".
Freedom of speech and expression, therefore, may not be recognized as being absolute, and common limitations or boundaries to freedom of speech relate to libel, slander, obscenity, pornography, sedition, incitement, fighting words, hate speech, classified information, copyright violation, trade secrets, food labeling, non-disclosure agreements, the right to privacy, dignity, the right to be forgotten, public security, blasphemy and perjury. Justifications for such include the harm principle, proposed by John Stuart Mill in On Liberty, which suggests that "the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others".
The idea of the "offense principle" is also used to justify speech limitations, describing the restriction on forms of expression deemed offensive to society, considering factors such as extent, duration, motives of the speaker, and ease with which it could be avoided. With the evolution of the digital age, application of freedom of speech becomes more controversial as new means of communication and restrictions arise, for example, the Golden Shield Project, an initiative by Chinese government's Ministry of Public Security that filters potentially unfavourable data from foreign countries.
The Human Rights Measurement Initiative measures the right to opinion and expression for countries around the world, using a survey of in-country human rights experts.
English
Etymology
The concept and the term are ancient; Athens’ democratic ideology of free speech (παρρησία (parrhēsía)) is thought to have emerged in the 5th or 6th century B.C.E. The first occurrence of the phrase freedom of speech recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary dates to 1567, and it also appears in the English Bill of Rights, among other works: see the quotations.
