Why Is Freedom of Speech Important? Essay Example

Freedom of speech is something that we sometimes can take for granted here in America. We do not think about what is would be like if we lived in a country where we could be beaten or arrested or even tortured or killed for voicing an opinion or posting on a blog something that the government did not like or found offensive. But things like that happen all over the world and all over the world, people have risked their lives in order to be able to express themselves freely.

The following speech is about why this freedom of expression in so important, and how it improves society. The speech will talk about how free speech in America has defined our society, and how free speech improves society by protecting against totalitarian government and by helping society to function when there is a large amount of diversity in the population. It will also discuss how certain limitations on free speech is not an argument against free speech itself. Let’s begin.

History of Free Speech in America

After the American Revolution, there were a lot of people in this country who were worried about what the new government would be like.  That was the reason why so many changes were made to the Constitution (Illinois First Amendment Center 1). When the Constitution was first signed, it did not have a Bill of Rights, and many people at the time wer afraid that if they did not have – in writing – a guarantee of freedoms, they would not have any more rights than they did when they were still living under English rule.  After a lot of argument, the Bill of Rights was added (Vanderbilt University Center for the First Amendment 1). Of these first ten amendments, probably the First Amendment is the best known and has probably been the cause of most of the argument over the years. It says that the government cannot pass laws “abridging the freedom of speech” and the fact that this amendment has endured for over 200 years with little real change (Illinois First Amendment Center 2) shows how important it has been in our country, both in the past and present.

Freedom of speech in America has helped improve society in many ways. The movement to end slavery, to give women the right to vote, and the Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s are all examples of people trying to make society better and they all benefited from freedom of speech. Newspapers and the press gave a lot of attention to these movements and acted as “a catalyst of social change by bringing information on many national issues to the masses” (Illinois First Amendment Center 9).

Free Speech as a Protection against Dictatorships

One way in which freedom of speech improves society is that is protects democracy against dictatorships. World War II was a time in Europe where many human rights, including the right of free speech and expression were taken away from people all across the content.  Europe, in reaction to the horrors of the Holocaust and the conquest of a lot of Europe by the Nazis, formed the United Nations. One of their early acts in 1948 was to set up its Universal Declaration of Human Rights to try to make sure that Europe never saw such a loss of human rights again.  Article 19 of the Declaration says that “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, regardless of frontiers” (Yamali 3).  In fact, as the writers of this Declaration understood, dictatorships cannot exist in countries where people are free to express themselves, to criticize the government when necessary and to be politically active in in helping to improve their societies (Yamali 5). To put it another way, democracy cannot exist without freedom of expression and if we do want a democracy, then freedom of expression has to be a part of it.  This is true in the United States as well.  Justice Brennan, writing in the case The New York Times v. Sullivan in 1964 noted that the First Amendment provides that “debate on public issues [should be]…uninhibited, robust, and wide-open” (Vanderbilt First Amendment Center 2).

The World Values Survey, which is conducted yearly by an international team of sociologists, has another take on the relationship between self-expression and democracy. According to the researchers in this survey, as societies develop and industrialize, values change from Survival values to Self-Expression values: that is, people put less importance on safety and security and put more importance on well-being, happiness and quality of life.  The researchers note that “this produces a culture in which people place a high value on individual freedom and self-expression and have activist political orientations.  These are precisely the same attributes that literature on political culture defines as being crucial for democracy” (World Values Survey 7).

Free Speech in a Diverse Society

Another way in which freedom of speech improves society is it helps to deal with the amazing amount of diversity in our population (and others). America faces many of the same challenges as Europe does in regard to its population. America, too, is very diverse: we have embraced races, languages, religions, ethnic groups, belief systems from all over the world.  We are both liberal and conservative, urban and rural, wealthy and poor.   As diversity in this country increases, expression issues become even more important.  Harry Malkonian, in his book “Free Speech and Society” notes that “as shared beliefs diminish, economic, social and political decisions cannot be made by a society without freedom of expression” (Malkonian 26) and that “without an expansive freedom of expression, modern society simply cannot effectively operate” (32). His theory is that in any group of people where many different viewpoint are held,  a consensus much be built in order to make decisions for the good of that group. However, a consensus cannot be built when members of that group are not free to express their concerns and beliefs.

The Jasmine Revolution: Free Expression in the Arab World

Most of my speech on how freedom of expression can improve society has focused on the United States and Europe, but I would also like to take a little time to talk about the way it can also improve conditions in the Arab world. We do not normally think of this part of the world as being a place where most people can express themselves freely. But even here, freedom of expression can help improve countries like that. Specifically, I would like to talk about the small North African country of Tunisia, and its recent “Jasmine Revolution” which overthrew the oppressive government of Ben-Ali in 2011. This government persecuted journalists, bloggers, human rights advocates and government opposition and many people in these groups were put in jail or had to flee the country before they could be put in jail. (Elkotbi 1).  There is no doubt that freedom of expression helped to topple this government, and this included expression in the form of street protests, as well as video and Tweets sent from cameras of grassroots organizers from all over the country, who were given a platform by the Aljazeera Network and Al Hiwar TV in London (Ghettas 1).

Eventually, the government was toppled and a new government formed, and organizations like the Free World Centre Article 19 Law Program stepped in to try to help and give advice as the new government was in the process of coming to be. The Free World Centre is active all over the world to bring expression rights to a greater number of people and it believed that the new Tunisian constitution should broadly define those rights and give them to every citizen. It also understood, however, that there should be limitations on this freedom for purposes of national security or to protect the rights of others, issues I will address later in this speech (Free World Centre 4).

Freedom of expression in Tunisia still remains rocky. Recently, protestors from the women’s rights group FEMENA have been detained and so had rapper Weld el, who was sentenced to two years in prison for his song “Police are Dogs”. (Achouri 1). However, though there are still gains left to be made in this country, there have definitely been many improvements: many commentators on the new post-revolution Tunisia have noted an improvement in free expression and when the Tunisian constitution was written, it did follow the recommendations of groups like the Free World Centre and passed many international human rights laws. It has also freed many political prisoners.  A taxi drive in Tunis commented, “We have lived for 23 long years in darkness.  Fortunately this era is over forever.  While you are in Tunis…you will be able to feel there’s more freedom in the air” (Elkotbi 1).

Limits on Free Speech?

Even limitations that have been placed upon free speech in certain situations do not change the fact that free speech is needed for the good of society as a whole.  Even in America, there have been limits placed on First Amendment Rights. The strongest limitations on this have generally taken place in times of war: during the Civil War, and again in World War I and II, government has placed limits on free speech under the plea of “national security” issues (Illinois Center for the First Amendment 3), a debate which we are still having in this country in the wake of the “War on Terror” and American policies in Iraq and Afghanistan.   After the September 11^th attacks, the United States and other countries returned to and in some cases revised guidelines for fighting against the threat of terrorism and many have felt that this has led to a dampening effect on the media; many journalists have reported that they have felt the pressure to “bury or silence controversial voices” (Yamali 8). The European Union responded to these concerns ‘with “Guidelines on Protecting Freedom of Expression and Information in Times of Crisis”. Overall, they urge that “member states should not restrict the public’s access to information in times of crisis beyond the limitations allowed by….The European Convention on Human Rights” (Yawali 8).

Apart from wartime and national security issues, however, there are other situations in which limiting free speech could be seen as good for society.  While embracing the Declaration of Human Rights, the European Parliament also instances when it is understandable to put limits on free expression, noting that it should “be exercised within the limits of the law and should co-exist with personal responsibility and be based on respect for other’s rights and sensibilities” (Yamali 6). This is in reference specifically to the UN Covenant on Political and Civil Rights, which prohibits “national, racial or religious hate speech which constitutes incitement to hostility, discrimination or violence” (Yamali 9).

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to underline once more how important it is that the people of a country be able to express themselves freely, to seek and share information and communicate with one another without undue restrictions.  Our Founding Fathers recognized the importance of this, which is why they drafted the First Amendment to guarantee this freedom under the law, and it has proved useful to a variety of movements for social change right here in the United States. Europe, after the horrors of World War II and the massive human rights violations that happened under the Nazis, also codified freedom of expression as part of the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights.

Laws like these help society by allowing for a strong and health democracy which can make decisions based on free access to information and the ability to express different sides of a debate. It can also help to manage the conflicts which can arise in a diverse society by helping to build a consensus as part of the decision-making process.  And freedom of expression has not just helped those in our country and in Europe: only recently, the country of Tunisia was able to overthrow an oppressive regime and gain increased freedom of speech and expression, even though there is still room for improvement. Even limitations that are imposed on free speech for purposes of national security or to protect the rights of others do not mean that free speech is not important.

So when you are talking with your friends today and complaining about the latest stupid thing Congress has done, or reading a cartoon in a newspaper about a  politician, do not take for granted the freedom that allows you to do this or how important these expressions are to our democracy.

Annotated Bibliography

Achouri, M. “Free Expression Still Threatened in Post-Revolutionary Tunisia”. Al Monitor Online.  2013.  Web. 13 April 2014.

This article outlines the fact that, though media and the press have fewer restrictions on them than during the Ben-Ali regime, there are still people being jailed for various forms of self-expression in Tunisia today.

Elkotbi, R. “Freedom of Expression in Post-Revolution Tunisia: Gains and Pitfalls”. The North African Post Online.  2012. Web. 13 April 2014. This article discusses the progress than Tunisia has made since the Jasmine Revolution in granting civil and human rights to its citizens, but also notes that there is still room for improvement.

“First Amendment History”.  This Illinois Center for the First Amendment.  2012. Web. 13 April 2014 This educational center offers information on the history of the First Amendment and different issues and applications it has had in various times in US history, including its role in social reform movements like temperance and women’s suffrage.

Ghettas, L. “The Geopolitical Repercussions of the Tunisian Jasmine Revolution on North Africa”.  School for International Affairs, Diplomacy and Strategy, London School of Economics.  2011. 1-16. Print. This paper, written by the London School of Economics, looks at the regional impact of the Jasmine Revolution on diplomacy and political stability throughout the region of North Africa.

“History of Free Speech in America”.  Vanderbilt First Amendment Center.  2014. Web. 13 April 2014.

This academic center, connected with Vanderbilt University, gives information on First Amendment Issues throughout American history and discusses several important events and legal cases in the history of American free speech.

Malochonian, H.  “Freedom of Speech and Society: A Social Guide to Freedom of Expression” New York: Cambrian Press. 2014. 1-234

This book deals with broad social issues of the importance of free expression for the greater good of society and the role that free speech plays in social changes within that society.

“Tunisia: Protecting Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Information in the New Constitution”.  Free World Centre.  2012. 1-5. Print. This paper looks at the Tunisian Revolution specifically through the lens of what it has meant to the development of free expression in the country. It seeks to help Tunisia, in the making of its new constitution, to help preserve and expand freedom of expression in the country.

“What is the Role of Freedom of Speech in a Democratic Society and what are its Limits?” European Union Youth Media.  2013. Web.  13 April 2014.

Although it is aimed primarily at young people, this European Union website gives excellent insight into the interplay between free expression and social changes and why free expression is so important to the society at large.

“World Values Survey”. World Values Survey Association Website. 2013. Web. 13 April 2014. This accredited association of sociologists track societal changes and shifts in values across the world and how those shifts in values affect those changes. Freedom of expression is emphasized in these studies.

Yamali, N.  The Importance of Freedom of Expression. Turkish Ministry of Justice Website. 2014. Web. 13 April 2014.

This paper, from the Turkish Ministry of Justice, discusses the importance of free expression rights in the greater cultural context of societal change and improvement.