Weighing up free speech in democracy

FREEDOM of speech and the right to project your views is in the spotlight in our sensitive country.

There is no context in which freedom of speech constitutes an absolute right. Our willingness to extend the right to people we disagree with is at the heart of freedom of speech. Speech and reason are bulwarks against an unjust society.

Freedom of speech is a sacred element of our democracy. There is always a struggle between the competing demands of liberty and authority, and we cannot have one without the other.

The debate regarding abuse of freedom of speech and association in order to incite against others is not new. The arguments do not differ from the global controversy on how to strike a balance between the freedoms and the principles of co-existence, tolerance and respect for the human rights of all.

Hate speech restriction is a means of rebranding certain, often obnoxious, ideas or arguments as immoral and illegitimate without bothering politically to challenge them.

Incitement to violence in the context of hate speech should be as tightly defined as in ordinary criminal cases.

Democracy must protect itself. This is the basis of the argument of those who accept the need to restrict the freedoms of speech and association in the extreme cases when democracy, the rights or the good name of others, and public order are threatened by irresponsible individuals.

Actonville