12/4/21, 5:00 PM Freedom of Expression - Amnesty International

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FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
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OVERVIEW
Your voice matters. You have the right to say what you think, share information
and demand a better world. You also have the right to agree or disagree with
those in power, and to express these opinions in peaceful protests.

Exercising these rights – without fear or unlawful interference – is central to

living in an open and fair society; one in which people can access justice and
enjoy their human rights.

Yet governments around the world routinely imprison people – or worse – for
speaking out, even though almost every country’s constitution refers to the value
of ‘free speech’.

Governments have a duty to prohibit hateful, inciteful speech but many abuse
their authority to silence peaceful dissent by passing laws criminalising freedom
of expression. This is often done in the name of counter-terrorism, national
security or religion. More recently, freedom of expression has come under threat
by authorities clamping down on activists, NGOs and individuals helping refugees
and migrants.

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How governments tolerate unfavourable views or critical voices is often a good

indication of how they treat human rights generally.

Amnesty International supports people who speak out peacefully for themselves
and for others – whether a journalist reporting on violence by security forces, a
trade unionist exposing poor working conditions or an indigenous leader
defending their land rights against big business. We would similarly defend the
right of those who support the positions of big business, the security forces and
employers to express their views peacefully.

We consider anyone put in prison solely for exercising their right to free speech
peacefully to be a prisoner of conscience and call for their immediate and
unconditional release.

Police violently disperse a spontaneous protest in Tverskaya street after the verdict in the
Bolotnaya case was delivered, Moscow, February 2014. © Alexander Baroshin / Amnesty
International
Police violently disperse a spontaneous protest in Tverskaya street after the verdict in the Bolotnaya case
was delivered, Moscow, February 2014. © Alexander Baroshin / Amnesty International

WHY IS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IMPORTANT?

The right to freedom of expression is enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, which sets out in broad terms the human rights
that each of us has. It was later protected legally by a raft of international and
regional treaties.

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Defending freedom of expression has always been a core part of Amnesty

International’s work and is vital in holding the powerful to account. Freedom of
expression also underpins other human rights such as the right to freedom of
thought, conscience and religion – and allows them to flourish.

It is also closely linked to freedom of association – the right to  form and join
clubs, societies, trade unions or political parties with anyone you choose; and
freedom of peaceful assembly – the right to take part in a peaceful demonstration
or public meeting.

However, these very freedoms come under regular attack by governments that
want to stifle criticism.

For example, in Egypt it is currently extremely dangerous to criticize the

government. Over the course of 2018, the authorities arrested at least 113
individuals citing a host of absurd reasons including satire, tweeting, supporting
football clubs, denouncing sexual harassment, editing movies and giving
interviews.

Those arrested have been accused of “membership of terrorist groups” and

“disseminating false news”. Detained without trial for months, those who
eventually faced trial were sentenced by military courts, even though military
trials of civilians, in Egypt as elsewhere, are inherently unfair.

PRESS FREEDOM
A free press reporting on the issues that interest us and shape our lives is a key
building block of any rights-respecting society. Yet in Azerbaijan, Turkey and
Venezuela to name just a few countries, journalists face repression and attacks.

In June 2019, Tanzania’s parliament fast-tracked the passing of the Written Laws

Bill, which would entrench censorship, among other violations. Journalists in the
country already operate within the tight confines of a media law that requires
media houses to “broadcast or publish news or issues of national importance as
government may direct”.  

In July 2019, the libel trial began in the Philippines against Maria Ressa, the
executive editor of online news outlet Rappler. Ressa, a prominent critic of
President Rodrigo Duterte, was arrested in February 2019 on trumped up libel
charges after Rappler published detailed investigations into some of the
thousands of extrajudicial executions committed by police and unknown armed
persons, with Duterte’s explicit encouragement, during drugs-related operations.
Her case is widely seen as an attack by the government on press freedom.
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During conflict, repression can get worse, such as in Myanmar where journalists

investigating the killing of Rohingya men and boys by security forces in Rakhine
State were arrested and jailed, before being freed under international pressure.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH
Freedom of speech, or freedom of expression, applies to ideas of all kinds,
including those that may be deeply offensive. While international law protects
free speech, there are instances where speech can legitimately restricted under
the same law – such as when it violates the rights of others, or, advocates hatred
and incites discrimination or violence.

However, any restrictions on freedom of expression must be provided by law,

protect certain public interests or the rights of others and, be clearly necessary
for that purpose. .

In 2018, Amnesty International published research that found that Twitter is a

platform where violence and abuse against women flourish, often with little
accountability. Instead of the platform being a place where women can express
themselves freely and where their voices are strengthened, Twitter leads women
to self-censor what they post and limit their interactions. As a company, Twitter
is failing its responsibility to respect women’s rights online by inadequately
investigating and responding to reports of violence and abuse in a transparent
manner.

THE DIGITAL FRONTIER

The digital world gives many more of us access to the information we need,
including to challenge governments and corporations. Information is power and
the internet has the potential to significantly empower the world’s seven billion
people.

But freedom of expression today still often depends on wealth, privilege and our
place in society. Those who are rich and powerful are seldom restricted in
expressing their views.. Similarly, those who have their own laptops with
broadband, have far greater access to information than those who have to walk
miles to an internet café.

Increasingly, some states try to build firewalls around digital communications, or

in the case of Egypt, Sudan and Zimbabwe among others, respond to mass street
protests with an internet shutdown. Iran, China and Viet Nam have all tried to
develop systems that enable them to control access to digital information. In

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India’s northern Kashmir region, mobile Internet and communications are

suspended in response to any unrest. At Amnesty International, we are
continually finding new ways to stop our website being blocked in China.

Governments are also using dangerous and sophisticated technologies to read

activists and journalists’ private emails and remotely turn on their computers’
camera or microphone to secretly record their activities. In 2014, Amnesty and a
coalition of human rights and technology organizations launched ‘Detekt’ – a
simple tool that allows activists to scan their devices for surveillance spyware.

WHAT IS AMNESTY DOING TO PROTECT THE FREEDOM OF

EXPRESSION?
Case study: Poland and the right to protest
Amnesty International has documented how people in Poland have taken to the
streets to express their opinions despite restrictive legislation combined with
heavy-handed policing, surveillance, harassment and prosecution which threaten
to strangle the right to peaceful protest.

Since 2016, tens of thousands of people have protested against repressive

legislation aimed at curbing women’s rights and undermining the independence
of the judiciary. Protesters have routinely been met with a show of force and
restrictive measures that infringe their right to be seen and heard. Hundreds have
found themselves in police custody and facing lengthy court proceedings.

In parallel with tightening the laws affecting the exercise of the right to freedom
of peaceful assembly, the government has vastly expanded the surveillance
powers of law enforcement agencies with evidence that these expanded powers
have been used against people engaged in organizing and participating in
peaceful protests.

Case study: Surge in Vietnamese prisoners of conscience

In 2019, Amnesty released shocking research showing that the number of
prisoners of conscience unjustly jailed across Viet Nam had sharply risen by a
third in signs of a growing crackdown on peaceful activism by lawyers, bloggers,
human rights defenders, environmental activists and pro-democracy
campaigners.

The prisoners’ detention conditions remain appalling with evidence of people

being tortured and otherwise ill-treated, routinely held incommunicado and in
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solitary confinement, kept in squalid conditions and denied medical care, clean
water and fresh air.

Many prisoners of conscience were jailed for comments made on social media
platforms and were targeted using the vague and overly broad provisions of the
penal code.

One prisoner of conscience is Tran Hoang Phuc. A pro-democracy and

environmental activist, he was arrested in June 2017. Tried and convicted on
charges of ‘conducting propaganda against the state’ for making and sharing
videos perceived to be critical of the government on social media, he was
sentenced to six years in prison, followed by four years under house arrest.

THE SOLUTION: WHAT IS AMNESTY CALLING FOR?

Prisoners of conscience around the world should be released immediately and
unconditionally.
All laws criminalizing people who speak out or protest peacefully, should be
struck off the law books.
Laws against hate speech or other incitement to discrimination and violence
must not be used to repress peaceful dissent.
People should have access to information, and the power of governments and
companies to obtain information about individuals and organisations must be
restricted.

Help us protect freedom of expression. Join millions fighting for human rights

BECOME AN AMNESTY MEMBER TODAY

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Speaking out for Freedom – Human rights education

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