Freedom of Speech – American, European and Pakistan

Freedom of speech is the concept of the inherent human right to voice one's
opinion publicly without fear of government censorship or punishment. "Speech" is not
limited to public speaking and is generally taken to include other forms of expression. The
right is preserved in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is
granted formal recognition by the laws of most nations. Nonetheless, the degree to which
the right is upheld.

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948,

provides, in Article 19, that:

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

Pakistan

In its 2010 Freedom of the Press Survey, Freedom House ranked Pakistan 134th out of 196
countries. Pakistan's score was 61 on a scale from 1 (most free) to 100 (least free), which
earned a status of "not free”. The OpenNet Initiative listed Internet filtering in Pakistan as
substantial in the social and conflict/security areas, as selective in the Internet tools area, and
as suspected in the political area in December 2010.
Though Articles 19 of the Constitution of Pakistan guarantees freedom of speech and
expression, and freedom of the press with certain restrictions. however, in practice, the
freedom of speech is restricted through censorship of media as well as censorship of the
Internet. In Pakistan, several media forms have been banned either temporarily or
permanently - These include YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Telegram, WhatsApp, and other social
networking sites, apart from encyclopaedias such as Wikipedia, which also faced bans.
Blasphemy against religion is illegal in Pakistan.
European

The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), signed on 4 November 1950,

guarantees a broad range of human rights to inhabitants of member countries of
the Council of Europe, which includes almost all European nations. These rights
include Article 10, which entitles all citizens to free expression. Echoing the language
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this provides that:
Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold
opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public
authority and regardless of frontiers. This article shall not prevent States from requiring the
licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.
The convention established the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Any person
who feels his or her rights have been violated under the convention by a state party
can take a case to the Court. Judgements finding violations are binding on the States
concerned and they are obliged to execute them. The Committee of Ministers of the
Council of Europe monitors the execution of judgements, particularly to ensure
payment of the amounts awarded by the Court to the applicants in compensation for
the damage they have sustained.
The convention also includes some other restrictions:

The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be
subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and
are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial
integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health
or morals, for the protection of the reputation or the rights of others, for preventing the
disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and
impartiality of the judiciary.

For example, the Council of Europe Explanatory Report of the Additional Protocol to the
Convention on Cybercrime states the "European Court of Human Rights has made it
clear that the denial or revision of 'clearly established historical facts – such as
the Holocaust – [...] would be removed from the protection of Article 10 by Article 17'
of the ECHR" in the Lehideux and Isorni v. France judgment of 23 September 1998.[112]
Each party to the Convention must alter its laws and policies to conform with the
convention. Some, such as Ireland or the United Kingdom, have expressly
incorporated the Convention into their domestic laws. The guardian of the
convention is the European Court of Human Rights. This court has heard many cases
relating to freedom of speech, including cases that have tested the professional
obligations of confidentiality of journalists and lawyers, and the application of
defamation law, a recent example being the so-called "McLibel case".

United states
In the United States, freedom of speech and expression is strongly protected from
government restrictions by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, many state
constitutions, and state and federal laws. Freedom of speech, also called free speech, means
the free and public expression of opinions without censorship, interference and restraint by
the government.[1][2][3][4] The term "freedom of speech" embedded in the First Amendment
encompasses the decision what to say as well as what not to say. [5] The Supreme Court of
the United States has recognized several categories of speech that are given lesser or no
protection by the First Amendment and has recognized that governments may enact
reasonable time, place, or manner restrictions on speech. The First Amendment's
constitutional right of free speech, which is applicable to state and local governments under
the incorporation doctrine,[6] prevents only government restrictions on speech, not
restrictions imposed by private individuals or businesses unless they are acting on behalf of
the government.[7] However, It can be restricted by time, place and manner in limited
circumstances. Some laws may restrict the ability of private businesses and individuals from
restricting the speech of others, such as employment laws that restrict employers' ability to
prevent employees from disclosing their salary to coworkers or attempting to organize
a labor union.