The Importance Of Freedom Of Expression In Democracy

When we finally got our independence the people were scared. They were scared about how things would work. They were scared about how the newly formed government would protect the rights/liberties if its citizens. There were laws and documents that were signed to make sure that everyone one was treated right.

It is also because of the first amendment, that I believe the government should maintain the right of the individuals to express their dissatisfaction with the government, through the act of flag burning and not amend the constitution to make such right illegal. Though many people may see the burning of the flag as a disrespectful notion towards the nation, it can be considered a way of expression. As stated in the United States Constitution “Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people…”.

For this essay I have picked symbolic speech and a seditious speech. All of these speeches come under the First Amendment of freedom of speech. This is controversial and generates lot of arguments sometimes on a national level. So, what is freedom of speech in reality? It states that “the United States Constitution prevents Congress from making any law respecting an establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise of religion, or abridging the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, the right to peaceably assemble, or to petition for a governmental ...”

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. — The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution According to the statement above and research, the First Amendment was written to protect freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly and petition. Religious minorities can be persecuted, protesters and media can be silenced, the press cannot criticize government, and citizens cannot mobilize for social change without the First Amendment. After explaining importance of First Amendment, I will explain how we can apply it to student newspapers.

The first amendment of the United States Constitution protects citizens’ rights to; freedom of the press, peaceful assembly, religious freedom, the right to petition the government, and the right to free speech. The Constitution itself asserts: “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” Interpreting the first amendment has always been a subject for debate, and many citizens of the United States are unaware of what is actually protected by the first amendment, specifically in regards to freedom of speech. This lack

Galloway explains that free speech is the underlying foundation of a democratic government and allows discussions on important issues and provides access to information which develops an informed society and encourages the prevailing of truth. While it is ensured by the Constitution, freedom of speech is not an absolute right as the Parliament is allowed to enact laws to restrict it, especially when it involves hate speech. There is no universally agreed definition for hate speech but the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers Recommendation 97(20) stated that hate speech covers ‘all forms of expression which spread, incite, promote or justify racial hatred, xenophobia, anti-Semitism or other

Oliver Weight COMM 5300 - Media Law Law Paper Assignment 02/19/2018 Freedom of speech in the United States is well regarded as one of the most fundamental human rights & freedoms we have as a citizen of our great country. With the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States free speech shall not be restricted, as in, Congress shall never make a law or abridge the freedom of speech, or of the press. However, if we look at the courts, they have ruled that freedom of advertising (which is a constitute part of free speech, can be regulated more strictly than any other form of expression) Which, then gives the state the proper authority to control the distribution of false/fake advertising.

Under the first amendment, it states that speech that would cause harm is not protected. Speech that leads to riots or physical violence is not protected by the first amendment. Everyone has different opinions on how speech should be protected, and most opinions are valid in one way or another. A recent conflict regarding freedom of speech is the Berkeley riot.

As human beings, we are all born with an entitlement of freedom of speech or synonymously known as freedom of expression as it is a basic human right. It is stated in the Federal Constitution and it is important for us human beings to protect our rights to freedom of speech and expression as it is the backbone for a democratic society. Having the right to express oneself freely without any restrictions is an essential part of what it means to be a free human being. Article 10 in the Federal Constitution states that; (a) every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression; (b) all citizens have the right to assemble peaceably and without arms; (c) all citizens have the right to form associations.

Malaysian has the right to freedom of speech which is guaranteed by Article 10 of the Constitution of Malaysia. The Article 10 allows all citizens the absolute freedom as not restricted by the government. In Malaysia, Law such as Publications act and printing presses give the Malaysian authorities the control over all the media. Any act that against this law may lead to fines or in much extreme cases, prison sentence. Although Malaysia has the right to freedom of speech, the media are still being controlled by the government which restrict them to publish anything against the government.

This not only meant that Congress gave rights to the people to protest their issues, but also gave them freedom of speech, press, and the ability to petition the government, much as they tried to petition with Britain with their grievances. The colonists lastly complained about the presence of a standing army in the colonies, and petitioned Britain as

Everyone has an opinion about someone or something. The First Amendment grants all United States citizens the freedom of personal speech and press. This allows people to form their thoughts and beliefs based on many opinions. And if you don’t agree with someone’s opinions

Government cannot censor the people of the united states. We have amendments for a reason. They went through all those wars and tragedy for us. For us to have Freedom of speech. The first amendment.

Would it be alright for the government to infringe these rights to protect us as citizens? There are two sides to this coin, on the first we have the violation of this right set down to protect us. On the other, we have the government’s interest of public safety. Our forefathers had predicted this type of issue. Another founding father, Benjamin Franklin said, “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

The founders of our country believed these rights so important, that they wrote them into the Constitution to prevent the government from becoming too strong. The Judiciary has the responsibility (Supreme Court) to ensure laws do not violate the Constitution, Each court must take into account the Bill of Rights when determining if a law is unconstitutional. While each amendment is very important we will only focus on the three aforementioned amendments, the First Amendment guarantees the freedom of religion, speech, press, the right to assemble and the right to petitioning the government for redress of grievances (Legal Information Institute 2015). The Fourth Amendment provides individuals with the right to be secure in their persons against unreasonable search and seizure (Legal Information Institute 2015). The Fifth Amendment stipulates that no person can be held for a crime unless indicted by a Grand Jury or be required to self-incriminate, and lastly cannot be deprived of life, liberty or property (Legal Information Institute 2015).