Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right that enables the existence of democratic societies. What does it consist of? What does it guarantee? Find out!
Freedom of expression and thought is a human right that allows a person or a group to maintain and articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of reprisals, censorship or sanctions.
In fact, it is considered an indispensable requirement for the existence and maintenance of democratic societies. So, any violation of the same supposes an attack on this ideal of government.
Next, we detail what freedom of expression consists of, what is its importance for society and what are its restrictions for the guarantee of other rights. Read on!
Freedom of expression: a human right
Freedom of expression is contained in article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rightswhich states that:
“Every individual has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the right not to be disturbed because of his opinions, to investigate and receive information and opinions, and to disseminate them, without limitation of borders, by any means of expression ».
In this way, it is recognized that all people not only have the right to express themselves freely about themselves or other matters of interest to them, but also They have the right to seek, receive and disseminate information of all kinds.
Thus, in any society, prior censorship, interference or direct or indirect pressure on any expression, opinion or information disseminated through the media must be prohibited by law.
Unfortunately, this guarantee is not present in all companies in the world. Today there are still authoritarian regimes that censor any information that is not in tune with their ideals. They even unfairly punish the authors of such demonstrations.
Importance of freedom of expression and thought
The philosopher John Stuart Millin his essay “On Liberty” (1859) already told us that, in order to achieve social progress and happiness, each individual, group of individuals and the people should not interfere in thought, expression, or the action of each.
In this sense, we agree with Stuart Mill, since Freedom of expression and thought guarantees us the following.
The existence of democracy
Democracy is a system of government where citizens have sovereignty over state affairs. For this, it is essential that people have the right to express themselves freely on public and private matters, by any means of communication and without any discrimination.
For his part, the philosopher Alexander Meiklejohn, one of the most notable defenders of the link between freedom of expression and democracy, has argued that For a democratic system to work, an informed electorate is necessary..
However, for this to happen, there must be no restrictions on the free flow of information and ideas. According to Meiklejohn, democracy will not be true to its essential ideal if those in power can manipulate the electorate by withholding information or hiding criticism.
A truthfully informed society
In line with the above, Freedom of expression is the best way to guarantee access to truthful information for the entire population. And it is that the censorship of supposedly false opinions and ideas, at the discretion of a censor, limits the possibility of evaluating the entire scenario and forming judgments more in line with reality.
In other words, censorship contributes to the creation of biased opinions, which increases social division and the ability to be manipulated by those in power.
The promotion of effective policies by the State
This right implies being able to access information held by public bodies. This allows all citizens to stay informed about the official documents and statistics of state institutions, in order to be accountable for their performance.
Thus, access to public information includes the right to request information from State agencies. This in order to know the essential data for the demand for effective policies, the fight against corruption and the defense of human rights.
academic freedom
Academic freedom is the right of each member of the educational community (students, teachers, researchers, etc.) to seek, develop and freely transmit knowledge through research, study, debate and evidence.
Likewise, it implies the prohibition of indoctrination through a model of thought, religion or particular belief. All this together, without a doubt, is part of freedom of expression.
Limits on freedom of expression
Now, we must recognize that freedom of expression is not absolute, so it has its limits. Said limitations relate to libel, slander, obscenity, incitement, copyright infringement and other situations that conflict with other rights and freedoms.
That said, we will be free to express ourselves as long as we do not harm or harm others. However, the interpretations of harm and offense are relative to the culture and politics of each society.
For example, in Russia it is considered an offense to disseminate anything related to the LGBT movement. Therefore, the nation restricts any such expression in the media.
Although for many this censorship is a clear violation of human rights, there are many other cases that make it difficult to draw clear limits that allow us to differentiate what is correct to censor and what is not.
Your freedom ends where mine begins
Freedom of expression is an essential human right for the progress of fair and democratic societies. However, we must be aware of the limits that this entails, since it is one thing to have the right to express our ideas and opinions without running the risk of censorship, and another is to disseminate information that harms or harms others.
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