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The issue of hate speech
The issue of hate speech
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On January 17th of 2015 two men with rifles and various firearms went into the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, bashing and shooting their way through the building they killed a total of 11 people and injured 11 more. after the incident the two men escaped. A vigorous search for the two suspects was issued and they were confronted by military and a shooting between the men and the military occurred, they entered a building belonging to a signage company and took hostages. the police and men exchanged fire again and as they emerged from building firing they were shot dead. The reason for the shootings and the men’s fuel for the violence were the depictions of the prophet Muhammad by the charlie hebdo magazine that …show more content…
and some people firmly believe that Free speech was the root of the violence, and should have been suppressed. But free speech is what gives modern society the freedom of expression that the past did not have, it gives the people a voice, and it is implemented in everyday things like: entertainment, conversations, and the way we present ourselves which also is a way to express oneself. Even though it lies on the thin line where free speech can become offensive blatter, freedom of speech is still one of the fundamental rights, the people as humans in a independent more liberated, artistic and somewhat oppression free age should have. free speech makes way for new ideas, allows society to improve upon the past , and if suppressed, results in violence.
Some say that freedom of speech can quickly turn into just hate speech or offensive blatter protected under the first amendment. Most of today’s society bases itself on protecting one 's emotional right and respecting each other, in this attempt feelings and emotional intelligence are being “protected” but most importantly people have been made to feel safe, and in a position where they
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most of the peoples thoughts, peoples feelings are expressed in some way or another by the ability to share with others, as people have evolved and grown on art, the importance of freedom of speech makes itself more and more evident. society shares, connects, feels and informs through those thoughts that others have expressed and shared. that is why freedom of speech is a fundamental right, something that is needed in society and for the human race in general, since speech gives everyone a voice. As said before society builds its foundations of ideas, those ideas were expressed and shared at some point and thats how they became reality, not being able to express those ideas would be robbing society from the great things that could grow out of all those
“Everyone loves free expression as long as it isn't exercised” (Rosenblatt 501). In the article, We are Free to Be You, Me, Stupid, and Dead, Roger Rosenblatt argues for the people’s right to freedom of speech and expression, that is given by the U.S Constitution. Rosenblatt argues that freedom of speech is one of the many reasons the Founding Fathers developed this country. For this reason, Rosenblatt believes that we should be tolerant and accepting of other’s ideas and beliefs. Even if one does not agree with someone else, they need to be understanding and realize that people have differing opinions.
Freedom of speech has been a controversial issue throughout the world. Our ability to say whatever we want is very important to us as individuals and communities. Although freedom of speech and expression may sometimes be offensive to other people, it is still everyone’s right to express his/her opinion under the American constitution which states that “congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press”. Although this amendment gave people the right express thier opinions, it still rests in one’s own hands as how far they will go to exercise that right of freedom of speech.
1. The measure of a great society is the ability of its citizens to tolerate the viewpoints of those with whom they disagree. As Voltaire once said, “I may disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” (Columbia). This right to express one's opinion can be characterized as “freedom of speech.” The concept of “freedom of speech” is a Constitutional right in the United States, guaranteed under the First Amendment to the Constitution:
freedom to express ideas and sentiments with which one agrees but also the ideas and sentiments
According to the “Derechos, Human Rights”, freedom of speech is one of the most dangerous rights, because it means the freedom to express one's discontent with the status quo and the desire to change it. These types of rights are protected by ACLU and other type of organization like UNESCO. ACLU is “America’s nation's guardian of liberty”, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in America. Freedom of speech is a gift to human beings, without this right the people couldn’t express themselves or even worst, to say what they feel or want for a better life. United States is one of the countries that protect this right, but in the world there are governments that do not respect and do not know that this right exists. The relation between democratic government and freedom of speech is that they both depend in each other.
The United States of America is often known for having more freedom than anywhere else. As Gandhi said, “A ‘no’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better and greater than a ‘yes’ uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble.” Freedom of speech is a big part of the American culture and citizens are encouraged to speak their minds and opinions openly. It is such an important aspect of each American individual that it is
who can speak and what they can say, the first Amendment rights of all of us are
Should people be able to choose for themselves? Oliver Wendell Holmes said: Words can be weapons... the question in every case is whether the words are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent.8 The basic idea on the Freedom of Speech is counteract whatever one says or does. With the Nazi march in 1977, instead of protesting, have an anti-
How much we valuse the right of free speech is out to its severest test when the speaker is someone we disagree with most. Speech that deeply offends our morality or is hostile to our way of life promises the same constitutional protection as other speech because the right of free speech is indivisible: When one of us is denied this right, all of us are denied. Where racist, sexist and homphobic speech is concerned, I believe that more speech - not less - is the best revenge. This is particualrly true at universities, whose mission is to facilitate learning through open debate and study, and to enlighten. Speech codes are not the way to go on campuses, where all views are entitled to be heard, explored, supported or refuted. Besides, when hate is out in the open, people can see the problem. They can organize effectively to encounter bad attitudes, possibly to change them, and imitate togetherness against the forces of intolerance.
The Free Speech Movement protested the ban of on campus political activities and speeches. Thousands of students became involved in this protest and together they displayed how much power there was in student activism. In the fall of 1964, the Regents of the university enforced a new ban that blocked students from holding political activities at Sproul Plaza on Bancroft and Telegraph. This was unsettling to them because the Bancroft Strip was a key location that students occupied when trying to reach out, raise funds and speak up for what they believed in. Previous policies suggested that student life outside of the university wouldn't be tampered or interfered with, so this was an outrage to the students of UC Berkeley. When the regents took time to revise and tweak the ban, students were still unhappy with the decision, so a sit in at Sproul Hall was organized and it lasted for nearly 10 hours.
Freedom of speech is archetypally recognised as a basic human right in free and democratic societies. When contending whether speech that may be deemed offensive should be safeguarded one may refer to the judgement of Redmond-Bate v. DPP:
I think that freedom of speech is one of the top rights that we have in America.
The Bill of Rights has gained existence since December 15, 1791. Being supported mainly by anti-federalists, the Bill of Rights upheld what was needed to protect individual liberty. From the ratification we have our first ten amendments. The most important and used today is the first amendment. The amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting… petition the government for a redress of grievances.” This amendment is very powerful but cannot be overly abused. Over time the freedom of speech has been constricted. There are many court cases that display the limitation of free speech. Environmental factors and certain materials are not covered in free speech. To understand our rights and know how and when our rights are limited, we must
Freedom of speech cannot be considered an absolute freedom, and even society and the legal system recognize the boundaries or general situations where the speech should not be protected. Along with rights comes civil responsib...
When you talk about freedom of speech another idea that comes to mind is, liberty.