Freedom Of Speech

The world will have come to a grave dark place when we no longer have the freedom to say what we like. Different organisations are trying to censor television and other sources of media and I see that as unconstitutional. Life will be far different then it is now, losing the freedom of speech will be one step closer to losing our other rights, and the people who choose to say certain things should take responsibility, not the rest of the nation.

Without our freedom of speech we cannot express our thoughts and ideas freely and openly. Everything we say and do will be censored to some extent, even if its as simple as only saying and doing things when in the privacy and security of our own homes, or at least as long as our homes are secure. Once our freedom to speak our mind is gone, we begin to lose everything that makes us who we are.

Freedom of speech has always been a very important right to all British, but we must realise that by losing that right we open ourselves up to losing all the other rights and freedom most of us take for granted every day. If we cannot speak freely then the government can stop us from speaking out on our own behalf allowing them to take away other rights. If we cannot speak freely, who is to say in the future we can vote "freely". All the things we have grown accustomed to, as British, will be lost.

My last argument point has to do with the people being censored. We must realise that while we can say what we want, we ourselves need to understand limits. You do not say the same things when you are around children that you would around friends. Especially those who are in the media, they are being watched by a mixed audience so it is important that we have a freedom to say what we wish but still keep it appropriate for all. In our society we must take responsibility for our actions so that the government does not step in and do it for us because the majority of the time what they do can be considered overkill.

We’ve got to see that we as a nation have such a wonderful gift that many other nations and places in the world can only imagine. We must take care not to let our freedom slip away because we took it for granted and didn’t take the responsibility we all know we should.

Freedom of Speech vs.  Hate Speech

An important aspect of this conflict lies in the understanding of the definition of 'Freedom of Speech'. Although I do not agree with the concept of censorship, as a society, we have to use our brain to know where to draw limits. Everybody is free to voice their opinion about homosexuality for example, but that freedom does not allow the promotion of hate and violence.

Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The synonymous term freedom of expression is sometimes used to indicate not only freedom of verbal speech but any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used. In practice, the right to freedom of speech is not absolute in any country and the right is commonly subject to limitations, such as on "hate speech". The right to freedom of speech is recognized as a human right under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognized in international human rights law in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The ICCPR recognizes the right to freedom of speech as "the right to hold opinions without interference. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression."Furthermore freedom of speech is recognized in European, inter-American and African regional human rights law. It is different from and not to be confused with the concept of freedom of thought.

Hate speech is, outside the law, any communication that disparages a person or a group on the basis of some characteristic such as race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, or other characteristic. In law, hate speech is any speech, gesture or conduct, writing, or display which is forbidden because it may incite violence or prejudicial action against or by a protected individual or group, or because it disparages or intimidates a protected individual or group. The law may identify a protected individual or a protected group by race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, or other characteristic. In some countries, a victim of hate speech may seek redress under civil law, criminal law, or both. A website that uses hate speech is called a hate site. Most of these sites contain Internet forums and news briefs that emphasize a particular viewpoint. There has been debate over how freedom of speech applies to the Internet. Conferences concerning such sites have been sponsored by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Critics have claimed that the term "Hate Speech" is a modern example of Newspeak, used to silence critics of social policies that have been poorly implemented in a rush to appear politically correct. There is a strong international consensus that hate speech is incompatible with free speech, but the United States is perhaps unique among much of the developed world in that under law hate speech regulation is incompatible with free speech.