A report on Freedom of speech

Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)—Article 19 states 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 and regardless of frontiers".
Orator at Speakers' Corner in London, 1974
Permanent Free Speech Wall in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.
Members of Westboro Baptist Church (pictured in 2006) have been specifically banned from entering Canada for hate speech.
Countries with laws against Holocaust denial
The Free Speech Flag was created during the AACS encryption key controversy as "a symbol to show support for personal freedoms".
Title page of Index Librorum Prohibitorum, or List of Prohibited Books, (Venice, 1564)
In Panegyricae orationes septem (1596), Henric van Cuyck, a Dutch Bishop, defended the need for censorship and argued that Johannes Gutenberg's printing press had resulted in a world infected by "pernicious lies"—so van Cuyck singled out the Talmud and the Qur'an, and the writings of Martin Luther, Jean Calvin and Erasmus of Rotterdam.
First page of John Milton's 1644 edition of Areopagitica, in which he argued forcefully against the Licensing Order of 1643
This 1688 edition of Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend (1260) was censored according to the Index Librorum Expurgatorum of 1707, which listed the specific passages of books already in circulation that required censorship
George Orwell statue at the headquarters of the BBC. A defence of free speech in an open society, the wall behind the statue is inscribed with the words "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear", words from George Orwell's proposed preface to Animal Farm (1945).
An "unexpurgated" edition of Lady Chatterley's Lover (1959)

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.

- Freedom of speech
Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)—Article 19 states 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 and regardless of frontiers".

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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International document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings.

International document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings.

Former-Foreign Office Minister Baroness Anelay speaking at the Commemorating Human Rights Day event in London, 8 December 2016.
In miniature book
Distribution map of Islam in the world.
The map shows the per cent Muslim population in each nation, worldwide. The grey colour for a nation means near zero per cent of the population in that nation is Muslim.

During World War II, the Allies—known formally as the United Nations—adopted as their basic war aims the Four Freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from fear, and freedom from want.

In some countries, reporting on certain topics is prevented or restricted by governments.

Freedom of the press

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Fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exercised freely.

Fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exercised freely.

In some countries, reporting on certain topics is prevented or restricted by governments.
Cumhuriyet s former editor-in-chief Can Dündar receiving the 2015 Reporters Without Borders Prize. Shortly after, he was arrested.
Freedom of the Press status 2017.
Georgiy Gongadze, Ukrainian journalist, founder of a popular Internet newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda, who was kidnapped and murdered in 2000.
First page of John Milton's 1644 edition of Areopagitica
The Statute was adopted as the constitution of the Kingdom of Italy, granting freedom of the press.
Joseph Goebbels' Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda was a driving force of suppressing freedom of the press in Nazi Germany.
Newspaper Ora, in 1999, cover page.
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a journalist and critic, but was murdered by the Saudi Government.
2022 Press Freedom Index Good situation Satisfactory situation Noticeable problems Difficult situation Very serious situation Not classified / No data

The concept of freedom of speech is often covered by the same laws as freedom of the press, thereby giving equal treatment to spoken and published expression.

Portrait of Milton, c. 1629

John Milton

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English poet and intellectual who served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell.

English poet and intellectual who served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell.

Portrait of Milton, c. 1629
Portrait of Milton, c. 1629
Blue plaque in Bread Street, London, where Milton was born
John Milton at age 10 by Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen. In Milton's Cottage, Chalfont St Giles.
Commemorative blue plaque 'John Milton lived here 1632–1638' at Berkyn Manor Farm, Horton, Berkshire
Title page of the 1644 edition of Areopagitica
The back of no 19 York Street (1848). In 1651, Milton moved into a "pretty garden-house" in Petty France, Westminster. He lived there until the Restoration. Later it became No. 19 York Street, belonged to Jeremy Bentham, was occupied successively by James Mill and William Hazlitt, and finally was demolished in 1877.
Engraving by William Faithorne, 1670
Milton Dictates the Lost Paradise to His Three Daughters, ca. 1826, by Eugène Delacroix
Title page of John Milton's 1644 edition of Areopagitica
Title page of a 1752–1761 edition of "The Poetical Works of John Milton with Notes of Various Authors by Thomas Newton" printed by J. & R. Tonson in the Strand
Frontispiece to Milton: A Poem in Two Books
Milton is commemorated in the temple of British Worthies, Stowe, Buckinghamshire

Writing in English, Latin, and Italian, he achieved international renown within his lifetime; his celebrated Areopagitica (1644), written in condemnation of pre-publication censorship, is among history's most influential and impassioned defences of freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

A person casts their vote in the second round of the 2007 French presidential election.

Democracy

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Form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choose governing officials to do so ("representative democracy").

Form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choose governing officials to do so ("representative democracy").

A person casts their vote in the second round of the 2007 French presidential election.
Democracy's de facto status in the world as of 2020, according to Democracy Index by The Economist
Democracy's de jure status in the world as of 2020; only Saudi Arabia, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Brunei, Afghanistan, and the Vatican do not claim to be a democracy.
Nineteenth-century painting by Philipp Foltz depicting the Athenian politician Pericles delivering his famous funeral oration in front of the Assembly.
Magna Carta, 1215, England
John Locke expanded on Thomas Hobbes's social contract theory and developed the concept of natural rights, the right to private property and the principle of consent of the governed. His ideas form the ideological basis of liberal democracies today.
Statue of Athena, the patron goddess of Athens, in front of the Austrian Parliament Building. Athena has been used as an international symbol of freedom and democracy since at least the late eighteenth century.
The establishment of universal male suffrage in France in 1848 was an important milestone in the history of democracy.
The number of nations 1800–2003 scoring 8 or higher on Polity IV scale, another widely used measure of democracy
Corazon Aquino taking the Oath of Office, becoming the first female president in Asia
Age of democracies at the end of 2015
Meeting of the Grand Committee of the Parliament of Finland in 2008.
Countries autocratizing (red) or democratizing (blue) substantially and significantly (2010–2020). Countries in grey are substantially unchanged.
designated "electoral democracies" in Freedom House's Freedom in the World 2021 survey, covering the year 2020.
A Landsgemeinde (in 2009) of the canton of Glarus, an example of direct democracy in Switzerland
In Switzerland, without needing to register, every citizen receives ballot papers and information brochures for each vote (and can send it back by post). Switzerland has a direct democracy system and votes (and elections) are organised about four times a year; here, to Berne's citizen in November 2008 about 5 national, 2 cantonal, 4 municipal referendums, and 2 elections (government and parliament of the City of Berne) to take care of at the same time.
Queen Elizabeth II, a constitutional monarch
Banner in Hong Kong asking for democracy, August 2019

Cornerstones of democracy include freedom of assembly, association, property rights, freedom of religion and speech, inclusiveness and equality, citizenship, consent of the governed, voting rights, freedom from unwarranted governmental deprivation of the right to life and liberty, and minority rights.

Parties and signatories of the ICCPR

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

3 links

Parties and signatories of the ICCPR

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits states parties to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, electoral rights and rights to due process and a fair trial.

Freedom of association

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Individual's right to join or leave groups voluntarily, the right of the group to take collective action to pursue the interests of its members, and the right of an association to accept or decline membership based on certain criteria.

Individual's right to join or leave groups voluntarily, the right of the group to take collective action to pursue the interests of its members, and the right of an association to accept or decline membership based on certain criteria.

Freedom of association is manifested through the right to join a trade union, to engage in free speech or to participate in debating societies, political parties, or any other club or association, including religious denominations and organizations, fraternities, and sport clubs and not to be compelled to belong to an association.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, painted by Jean-Jacques-François Le Barbier

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

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Human civil rights document from the French Revolution.

Human civil rights document from the French Revolution.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, painted by Jean-Jacques-François Le Barbier
Print of the 17 articles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789 (Musée de la Révolution française)

Freedom of speech and press were declared, and arbitrary arrests outlawed.

Magna Carta or "Great Charter" was one of the world's first documents containing commitments by a sovereign to his people to respect certain legal rights.

Human rights

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Human rights are moral principles or norms for certain standards of human behaviour and are regularly protected in municipal and international law.

Human rights are moral principles or norms for certain standards of human behaviour and are regularly protected in municipal and international law.

Magna Carta or "Great Charter" was one of the world's first documents containing commitments by a sovereign to his people to respect certain legal rights.
U.S. Declaration of Independence ratified by the Continental Congress on 4 July 1776
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen approved by the National Assembly of France, 26 August 1789
"It is not a treaty... [In the future, it] may well become the international Magna Carta." Eleanor Roosevelt with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1949.
The UN General Assembly
The official logo of the ICC
Flag of the African Union
European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg
Map: Estimated prevalence of Female Genital Cutting (FGC) in Africa. Data based on uncertain estimates.
Extrajudicial detention of captives in Guantanamo Bay

The precise meaning of the term right is controversial and is the subject of continued philosophical debate; while there is consensus that human rights encompasses a wide variety of rights such as the right to a fair trial, protection against enslavement, prohibition of genocide, free speech or a right to education, there is disagreement about which of these particular rights should be included within the general framework of human rights; some thinkers suggest that human rights should be a minimum requirement to avoid the worst-case abuses, while others see it as a higher standard.

Cover of an undated American edition of Fanny Hill, c. 1910

Obscenity

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Any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time.

Any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time.

Cover of an undated American edition of Fanny Hill, c. 1910
The 18th century book Fanny Hill has been subject to obscenity trials at various times (image: plate XI: The bathing party; La baignade)

In the United States, issues of obscenity raise issues of limitations on the freedom of speech and of the press, which are otherwise protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Front page of La Vie Illustrée on 25 July 1902. Mme Camille du Gast stands in court during the cases of character defamation by the barrister Maître Barboux, and the Prince of Sagan's assault on Barboux.

Defamation

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Communication that injures a third party's reputation, honour or dignity in front of another third party.

Communication that injures a third party's reputation, honour or dignity in front of another third party.

Front page of La Vie Illustrée on 25 July 1902. Mme Camille du Gast stands in court during the cases of character defamation by the barrister Maître Barboux, and the Prince of Sagan's assault on Barboux.

In a 2012 ruling on a complaint filed by a broadcaster who had been imprisoned for violating Philippine libel law, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights held that the criminalisation of libel without provision of a public figure doctrine – as in Philippine criminal law – violates freedom of expression and is inconsistent with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.