06/10/2018

Unit 8

Freedom of speech & Censorship

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1. Freedom of speech & Expression

Anchors all and any Human Rights.

UN: Universal Declaration on Human Rights: “Everyone has the right

to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the right
to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and
impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers.”

The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights:

◦ specifically considers that ‘freedom, equality, justice and dignity are essential
objectives for the achievement of the legitimate aspirations of the African
peoples’.
◦ Article 2 of the African Charter states that: ‘[e]very individual shall be
entitled to the rights and freedoms recognised and guaranteed in the
present Charter without distinction of any kind such as race, ethnic group,
colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and
social origin, fortune, birth or any status.’ The first clause in the first
sentence in article 5 states that: ‘[e]very individual shall have the right to
the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being...’
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2. John Stewart Mills

Influential philosopher: South African constitution was
immensely influenced by his school of thought.

He was a unyielding proponent of Freedom of Speech [FOS]

because:
◦ Truth might be lost
◦ Truth might be partly lost if not openly/thoroughly discussed
◦ People’s principles are based on half-truths
◦ Seeing is believing – as long as you have access to the fill picture
◦ Without FOS core beliefs might become prescribed rigid dogma

Argued that prohibiting harm does not justify censorship:

◦ FOS had to CLEARLY infringe on the rights of others to justify any
restrictions.
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3. FOS promotes
Dignity: To be heard; your voice counts just because you
are a human being

Equality: Your voice is just as important as anybody else’s

Uniqueness: Everybody is one of a kind and has the right to

express that

Personality: Through FOS you have the right to expressing

yourself and develop your individual personality and
potential

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4. Basic principles
a) Everyone has the right to hold opinions without interference.

b) Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, which includes the freedom to
seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of
frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any
other media of his or her choice.

c) The exercise of the right provided for in paragraph (b) may, where this can be
shown to be necessary, be subject to restrictions on specific grounds, as
established in international law, including for the protection of the reputations
of others.

d) Anyone affected, directly or indirectly, by a restriction on freedom of expression

must be able to challenge the validity of that restriction as a matter of
constitutional or human rights law before an independent court or tribunal.

e) Any application of a restriction on freedom of expression must be subject to

adequate safeguards against abuse, including the right of access to an
independent court or tribunal, as an aspect of the rule of law.
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Basic principles (cont.)

Associated with:
◦ Furthering and or protecting and or prohibiting particular
political/ moral / religious / cultural ideas, facts, information
◦ Removal of material
◦ Filtering of material
◦ Physical deleting/altering material
◦ Circulation and access to material is controlled
◦ Censorship are legally bound – enforced according to official
regulation / penalties for not enforcing it
◦ Can be legitimate in service of genuine national security or for
deception
◦ Censorship and propaganda work in conjunction –
information/ideas are removed through censorship and the void
filled by propaganda

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5. Freedom of expression is critical to

democracy
This rationale is based on the notion that democracy – which recognises
that people have the right to elect a government of their choosing –
cannot exist in any meaningful way without the right to freedom of
expression.

For democracy to be effective, the citizenry that votes in elections and

engages in public processes with government must be informed and must
have the right to participate freely in public discourse.
◦ If there is no freedom of expression – they will not be sufficiently well informed to
make appropriate and meaningful political choices, whether at the ballot box or in
their interactions with government more generally.

Michael Bratton, has said: In order to be politically active, citizens require means
to communicate with one another and to debate the type of government they
desire for themselves. Civic discourse can take place in various forums, the most
important of which are the public communications media, both print and
electronic.
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6. FOS & economic development

President of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, 2002:

“A key ingredient of an effective development strategy is knowledge

transmission and enhanced transparency.To reduce poverty, we must
liberate access to information and improve the quality of
information. People with more information are empowered to make
better choices. For these reasons I have long argued that a free press
is not a luxury. It is at the core of equitable development.The
media can expose corruption.They can keep a check on public
policy by throwing a spotlight on government action.They let people
voice diverse opinions on governance and reform and help build
public consensus to bring about change.”

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7. Dilemma of FOS
Curbing FOS as ‘protection’ still implies diluting a central Human Right

Proving that exposure to ‘harmful’ material will lead to ‘harmful’ action

Ought adults and societies not decide for themselves vs. state controlled
systems

Notions of morality / right and wrong / good and bad ought not be
‘prescribed’ by the state

People don’t want to take responsibility that accompanies liberties

FOS and censorship can easily be exploited to further socio-political

malignancy

By accepting FOS, society has to accept the opponent’s FOS too

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8. In favour of censorship
Protect people from developing ‘harmful beliefs’

Protect people from committing ‘harmful’ acts based on

‘harmful’ beliefs

Where FOS directly move people to commit severe harm

To protect the vulnerable from exploitation i.e. child

pornography

To protect toddlers, in their formative years, against

exposure to mature materials
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In favour of censorship (Cont.)

Prohibit hate speech that can move people to commit harm

Prohibit the creation of mind-sets that lead to physical harm

Prohibit material that can desensitize people regarding the

performance of harm i.e. make people getting used to
violence or abuse of women/children etc.

Prohibit material that cause mass panic or national hysteria

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9. Dilemmas in Censorship
Vagueness in censorship = exploitation by authorities

Precisely defined; exactly what materials and clearly

motivated

Creators become so scared of the theme itself that they

refrain from addressing the ‘sensitive’ issues all together

Regulatory bodies / censors must be totally independent

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10. Internet & Social Media: ‘Good vs.

Evil’
Nobody owns it / Nobody’s responsibility

Gives everyman a platform / Gives every ‘psycho’ a platform

Greatest source of knowledge in the history of mankind /

Greatest source of dangerous information in history

Connects ‘positive’ groups to further virtuous ideals /

Connects ‘malignant’ groups to share dangerous knowledge

Furthers understanding through exposure to diversity /

Furthers extremism through targeting specific groups

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Internet & Social Media (cont.)

Furthers global commerce / Promotes trade in illegal and
dangerous material

Everybody can be heard through social media / Anybody can be

victimized through social media

Promotes the individual’s FOS / Erodes the individual’s right to

privacy

Gives anonymity in FOS / Gives anonymity to through rerouting to

dangerous groups

Its impact is immediate and can instantly calm or rectify

situations / Its impact is immediate and can inflame or distort
situations instantaneously

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11. FOS & the press

UN Human Rights Committee has stressed
the importance of free media to the political
process:
◦ [T]he free communication of information and ideas
about public and political issues between citizens,
candidates and elected representatives is essential.
This implies a free press and other media able to
comment on public issues without censorship.

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12. Forms of censorship

Official structure sanctioned by the state and acting according to
laws
◦ Explicit: An official indication is given that something has been censored
◦ Subtle: No official indication is given that something has been censored

Restricting access: Only certain defined groups may have access

to certain materials i.e. age restrictions

Banning: Material is declared illegal

Fines: Creators/traders/marketers of ‘questionable’ material is

heavily fined

Blacklisting: Creators of ‘questionable’ is restricted from the

realm it is doing so i.e. academia, films, publishing, art
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Forms of censorship (cont.)

Jail: Creators of ‘questionable’ or ‘dangerous’ material is jailed

Self-censorship: Groups are scared of being censored (regards it

as blemish/don’t want to get in trouble with the authorities) and
avoid anything that be ‘unacceptable’

Fear: Creating something that may solicit a dangerous reaction

i.e. threats, extortion, boycotts, physical harm, murder

Social action: Social groups i.e. cultural organizations, churches,

unions, political parties may boycott the creators/traders of
material deemed unacceptable

Party political: A party may censor/mute/prescribe its followers’

expressing itself within/outside the party on specific issues or
leaders
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13. FOS, censorship & the historian

How is the Historian and historical sources affected by
FOS & Censorship?

THE SOUTH AFRICAN EXPERIENCE:

◦ See suggested articles on BlackBoard.

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