freedom of expression

[uchegod-21]

What is the meaning of freedom of expression?

Freedom of expression is one of the basic human rights that allows an individual to express his ideas and beliefs freely without infringing on the rights of others or spreading false propaganda and hatred.
This right is guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789 in France.

Naturally,  freedom of expression has certain limitations. This limitations allows you to make your opinions and ideas clear without violating the rights of others or constituting nuisance.  Under normal circumstances,  this has nothing to do with oppression as it is the right way to go in order to ensure there is peace and order in the society.

BUT
We all know that freedom of expression is very limited in third world countries, and when any statement is hostile to rulers, you put your freedom and life at risk, unlike developed countries, but we have noticed recently the lack of respect for freedom of expression by these countries
Example:
- player suspended and menaced by thier team after showing support to palestine
And the suppression of peaceful Manifestation that support Palestine
- Attacks and threats to people who do not support homosexuality.
Is this considered a suppression of freedom of expression?
Is democracy a dress for dictatorship only?

The corruption dominant in many third world countries tend to hinder many citizens from exercising their rights freely. Democracy in third world countries is a joke,  it is just a word written in the constitution but in reality,  it is not practiced. It is very common to see cases where those who make opinions contrary to what the government wants to hear ,detained unjustly. Only the guys at the top control the government while the opposition are seen as violators of human rights.

[btc78]

What is the meaning of freedom of expression?

Freedom of expression is one of the basic human rights that allows an individual to express his ideas and beliefs freely without infringing on the rights of others or spreading false propaganda and hatred.
This right is guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789 in France.

Naturally,  freedom of expression has certain limitations. This limitations allows you to make your opinions and ideas clear without violating the rights of others or constituting nuisance.  Under normal circumstances,  this has nothing to do with oppression as it is the right way to go in order to ensure there is peace and order in the society.

BUT
We all know that freedom of expression is very limited in third world countries, and when any statement is hostile to rulers, you put your freedom and life at risk, unlike developed countries, but we have noticed recently the lack of respect for freedom of expression by these countries
Example:
- player suspended and menaced by thier team after showing support to palestine
And the suppression of peaceful Manifestation that support Palestine
- Attacks and threats to people who do not support homosexuality.
Is this considered a suppression of freedom of expression?
Is democracy a dress for dictatorship only?

The corruption dominant in many third world countries tend to hinder many citizens from exercising their rights freely. Democracy in third world countries is a joke,  it is just a word written in the constitution but in reality,  it is not practiced. It is very common to see cases where those who make opinions contrary to what the government wants to hear ,detained unjustly. Only the guys at the top control the government while the opposition are seen as violators of human rights.

agreed,

it’s very common in my country that the people who speak up about corruption, oppression or any kind of injustice to suddenly go missing or be identified as a part of terrorist groups or organizations any kind of criticism against the government is not allowed this is harmful because the government is first and foremost for the people so if they’re not open to criticisms then who are they leading and what for?

not only does the government do this but also some of my countrymen wherein they are deemed as loyalists or those loyal to political parties or families even if they’re no longer serving the people

[montaga]

....
Is democracy a dress for dictatorship only?[/b]

Democracy is two wolves and a Lamb voting on what to have for dinner tonight.
Two school dropouts tell a professor with two-thirds majority whats right and he has do.
It is a fact, most Counties are a Republic and not a Demo-cracy place.

[boyptc]

That makes sense and this is what happening from all over the world. When world leaders give their speeches, we can't guarantee freedom from them.

And if someone speaks out from his heart of the actual situation that we're dealing, he's not guaranteed as well when he's talking and banging big names with their speeches.

What a sad world today indeed, everyone has became too soft and sensitive.

[Jegileman]

....
Is democracy a dress for dictatorship only?[/b]

Democracy is two wolves and a Lamb voting on what to have for dinner tonight.
Two school dropouts tell a professor with two-thirds majority whats right and he has do.
It is a fact, most Counties are a Republic and not a Demo-cracy place.

Whenever I remember this quote of Idi Amin, it makes me realise once again that Democracy will not work everywhere especially in the third world countries. Indeed there’s freedom of speech, but your freedom isn’t guaranteed after that. What a despicable democracy we are living in. No rule of law is always abide by to the fullest in democratic rule, it is either the leaders are violating it, or the children’s of the leaders are violating it and lastly the citizens that have transgressed and don’t obey the rule of law because of the hardship they face from their leaders. Even in the first world countries, not all abide by freedom of speech, some are violated but theirs is controlled to the minimal level and not on all cases. Freedom of speech is a human right but know when you utter some words that won’t guarantee freedom after speech.

[Wiwo]

....
Is democracy a dress for dictatorship only?[/b]

Democracy is two wolves and a Lamb voting on what to have for dinner tonight.
Two school dropouts tell a professor with two-thirds majority whats right and he has do.
It is a fact, most Counties are a Republic and not a Demo-cracy place.

Whenever I remember this quote of Idi Amin, it makes me realise once again that Democracy will not work everywhere especially in the third world countries. Indeed there’s freedom of speech, but your freedom isn’t guaranteed after that. What a despicable democracy we are living in. No rule of law is always abide by to the fullest in democratic rule, it is either the leaders are violating it, or the children’s of the leaders are violating it and lastly the citizens that have transgressed and don’t obey the rule of law because of the hardship they face from their leaders. Even in the first world countries, not all abide by freedom of speech, some are violated but theirs is controlled to the minimal level and not on all cases. Freedom of speech is a human right but know when you utter some words that won’t guarantee freedom after speech.

We hard a lot of leaders who where so autocratic and have rule with iron hands with total seizure of the people right to speech and some time those who dear to express their right to expression and freedom of speech are call attacker and lebeled an anti-government and those leaders may get them put behind bars and becoming they political prisoner and this has made a lot of other people to become afraid of the government.

But in some countries where democracy is practised in its true faith and followed with all the rules of llawfullyfollowed it becomes easier for the citizens of those countries to have the freedom to speak but not the same with other countries around the world too.

[Bushdark]

That makes sense and this is what happening from all over the world. When world leaders give their speeches, we can't guarantee freedom from them.

And if someone speaks out from his heart of the actual situation that we're dealing, he's not guaranteed as well when he's talking and banging big names with their speeches.

What a sad world today indeed, everyone has became too soft and sensitive.

The freedom of speech is limited in some countries and can cause us big problem if we don't know how to control our mouth.
There are people that have put themselves into problems by taking anyhow to government officials which later get them arested and prosecuted. Even though we'll have the freedom of speech, that do not mean that we need to keep talking anyhow without using our head to know what we are ought to talk and what we shouldn't talk about. Many have gone to prison because they think they all have the freedom of speech.

[348Judah]

Haven't some people taken advantage of this freedom of expression as abuse, to talk anyhow as they want to others because they feels it's their right to express their feelings even though they were wrong or doing it the wrong way, we have to learn how to pit ourselves in position if same thing we mostly often complained about before speaking with the way we take in addressing those situations, many of us wouldn't condole what we do to others when trying to express our own feelings.

[Mate2237]

Yes there are freedom of personal interest to associate and speech but all these freedoms have limitation in the world even those countries that are practicing the real democracy are not free from this. There is no country in the world that practice 100% free for her citizens. And the only thing I like in Americans are the liberal democracy which can't be found in any of the third world countries. If there was good freedom of speech Nigeria would have been good country in the world but those who speak to change the country to be a good place to live were jailed to mute their mouths. All these declaration of human freedom are just a mere proclamation and not in action.

[Anguwa]

This thread is subject to people’s opinions and everyone have the right to speak what he/ she feels about the expression which is indirectly the definition of freedom of expression.
In short form: it means the ability of a citizen to be able to voice out all their pains, complains and opinions on a particular motive been raised that requires public consideration and opinions.

[Wiwo]

The corruption dominant in many third-world countries tends to hinder many citizens from exercising their rights freely. Democracy in third world countries is a joke,  it is just a word written in the constitution but in reality,  it is not practiced. It is very common to see cases where those who make opinions contrary to what the government wants to hear, are detained unjustly. Only the guys at the top control the government while the opposition are seen as violators of human rights.

Is there anything like true democracy in third-world countries?

I doubt if there be anything like that since the practice of democracy in those third world countries lacks of thorough ingredient of democracy since the practice of democracy in those countries has been plagued with loads of corruption,  malpractice and the rest of the other features that discredit them from true democracy.

[FinneysTrueVision]

Freedom of expression is not meant to be absolute but even in free and tolerant societies we have seen people's rights eroded by a significant degree. Many European countries and US states are making it illegal to criticize Israel. If you point out any crimes committed by Israel's apartheid regime you are accused of being an antisemite and there is the potential of being charged with a hate crime. There is widespread censorship of any criticism of Zionist settler terrorism with cooperation from Israel's military in regions of Palestine where there is no Hamas presence, so safety concerns can't be used as a justification — a clear example of genocidal violence.

Even free speech absolutist, Elon Musk, is threatening to deplatform those who support Palestinians right to resist occupation, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing. It seems that free expression is only free as long as you remain within the confines of what those in power deem acceptable.

[BADecker]

The United States is different than most countries. In the 1st Amendment it says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Cornell explains it this way: "The First Amendment guarantees freedoms concerning religion, expression, assembly, and the right to petition. It forbids Congress from both promoting one religion over others and also restricting an individual’s religious practices. It guarantees freedom of expression by prohibiting Congress from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to speak freely. It also guarantees the right of citizens to assemble peaceably and to petition their government."

This means that the government can't make any laws against free speech. But this doesn't detract from people making agreements to limit their own free speech. People have the right to contract as adjudicated regarding the Contract Clause in the Constitution:

Article I, Section 10, Clause 1:

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

The part of the Contract Clause that is important for freedom of expression restrictions is, "No State shall enter into any ... Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts... ."

The point of all this is, people in the US have the right to express themselves in ways wherein they have not limited themselves by contract. And they can do this freely without fear of being judged in courts of law.

The only other limitation that they have is when they take away the freedom of someone else by harming him or damaging his property, or by making a personal threat against him, through their freedom of expression. People who take offense from what somebody does or says in his freedom of expression, should recognize that it is they themselves who are harming themselves or someone else by what they think or do in NOT allowing someone else his right to freedom of expression.

In other words, as long as you don't hurt the eardrums of anybody, shouting matches at each other are legal. But that's it.

[AYOBA]

Of course, you can't close your mouth when you see your leaders making wrong and selfish decisions that you know will affect you in the long run but you need to make your statement with caution and courtesy so your good intention won't be evil spoken of.

Yes, this is well stated, leaders are chosen to be directed by people behind him in order to avoid someone commenting on the wrong thing or following in a direct way, not because the person they choose as a leader knows more than everyone else or has knowledgeable them others, they are only chosen so that they will have freedom in that society.

In other word people who are the back of leader have the authority to steer him in the proper path when he makes poor mistakes. Leaders are a people we must obey, so it is important that we follow the norms and laws of any leadership. Because in any societies if their's no leadership they will no be development.

[montaga]

Freedom of expression is a basic human right, Article 19.
Also Article 7, No equal Human can tell another equal Human what to do, only persons have ranks.
Article 15 this includes self-sovereign (self-ownership)
All payments are always on a voluntary basis, extortion is not legal.
Notice this a Human Rights, not Persons Rights, Persons have no rights.


Human Rights resolution 217 A (III)

Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11
Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13
Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14
Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15
Everyone has the right to a nationality.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16
Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17
Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19
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.

Article 20
Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21
Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23
Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26
Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27
Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29
Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

[franky1]

Human Rights resolution 217 A (III)

rights are things wrote on paper decided by people writing on paper. and only truly exercised by going to a court AFTER a violation to:
claim your rights were violated
hope the violator will be punished.

however this does not mean people have no responsibility in using their rights outside of the court. because by trying to enforce your rights you may be violating someone elses, and THEY can take YOU to court.

EG

Article 19
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.

is countered by

Article 12
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Notice this a Human Rights, not Persons Rights, Persons have no rights.

technically internationally its human. but then states do form their own laws/constitutions on "the person"

and laws dont recognise you as human unless you take a state to international court of human rights.. because a state law recognises you as a person

Article 6
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

[Kelward]

There are levels of restrictions of freedom of speech in some parts of the world. If for instance your believe is seen as a taboo in the country that you're resident in, then it's best to make arrangement to leave that country to were your believe is welcomed. If you can not leave the country, then it's better to be on the low key, because I wouldn't advice anybody to get in trouble with the laws of his country of residence, except the person has a strong voice that'll fight for him. So it's better not to be a fool to fight a battle that can not be won, if you don't have a strong backing to protect your rights.

[Wiwo]

There are levels of restrictions of freedom of speech in some parts of the world. If for instance your believe is seen as a taboo in the country that you're resident in, then it's best to make arrangement to leave that country to were your believe is welcomed. If you can not leave the country, then it's better to be on the low key, because I wouldn't advice anybody to get in trouble with the laws of his country of residence, except the person has a strong voice that'll fight for him. So it's better not to be a fool to fight a battle that can not be won, if you don't have a strong backing to protect your rights.

But what if the country is your country of origin and you don't have the funding to foot your possible relocation as you advised,  in such a case what do you expect the person involve to do,  sometime what we call freedom may actually be blown out of proportion by us and at that make things look and sound as if it way to against the citizens in it enterity,  this is because most times,  if you see the abuse of the freedom of speech that is granted to some citizen such as the social media right,  you can see how some forks and bad actors have used that to cause a lot of crisis in the society,  so such are the negative part of too much freedom of left unchecked to or unguided.

[Kelward]

There are levels of restrictions of freedom of speech in some parts of the world. If for instance your believe is seen as a taboo in the country that you're resident in, then it's best to make arrangement to leave that country to were your believe is welcomed. If you can not leave the country, then it's better to be on the low key, because I wouldn't advice anybody to get in trouble with the laws of his country of residence, except the person has a strong voice that'll fight for him. So it's better not to be a fool to fight a battle that can not be won, if you don't have a strong backing to protect your rights.

But what if the country is your country of origin and you don't have the funding to foot your possible relocation as you advised,  in such a case what do you expect the person involve to do,  sometime what we call freedom may actually be blown out of proportion by us and at that make things look and sound as if it way to against the citizens in it enterity,  this is because most times,  if you see the abuse of the freedom of speech that is granted to some citizen such as the social media right,  you can see how some forks and bad actors have used that to cause a lot of crisis in the society,  so such are the negative part of too much freedom of left unchecked to or unguided.

If it's your country of origin where you cannot express your freedom of speech, because you have a dictator as leader, if you don't have the resources to leave the country or for legal battles, then it's wisest to remain low key. Because if the authority decides to deal with the person, and he doesn't have a strong backing, it'll be a pity because his rights will further be trampled on. Except the person wants to be brave and face the consequences of going against the authority. Abuse of rights and privileges is to be expected in any society, some out of ignorance or in full knowledge will break the law. In cases like that the law should be judiciously applied to chastise them.

[Dunamisx]

We are having this freedom does not gives us the ordersity for an abuse of this privilege, there are many people whose mouth har out them into trouble and they are paying for he consequences now, everyone has this opportunity to freedom of speech but what we say could actually landed us into serious trouble if we are not very careful with how we talk and interfere to other matters that are public opinions.