Scope of Freedom of Expression

In this highlight from an episode of the Origins Podcast, Lawrence Krauss discusses current attitudes about free speech and expression with Noam Chomsky. The discussion spans the themes of free speech on campuses, Donald Trump’s Executive Order, the divide between and the perceptions of the right and the left, the fear of ideas/discussions which produce discomfort, the First Amendment, and, sovereign immunity.  

"This collection of essays includes perspectives on and approaches to harmful speech online from a wide range of voices within the Berkman Klein Center community. Recognizing that harmful speech online is an increasingly prevalent issue within society, we intend for the collection to highlight diverse views and strands of thought and to make them available to a wide range of audiences."

This article considers the law of sedition, tracing its history through the origins and evolution of such laws in England. It discusses the philosophy behind freedom of expression, identifying the four commonly held justifications for the principle. It contemplates the tradition of free speech in the United States and the relationship between First Amendment free speech, defamation, and sedition, as illustrated in the case New York Times v Sullivan. It argues that sedition (in the form of defamation against the government) strikes at the very heart of democracy and that political freedom ends when government can use its powers and its courts to silence its critics.

PowerPoint Presentation created by the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights. This presentation is used by the Office in their training sessions. It addresses the Inter-American human rights system, explains the mandate of the Office of the Special Rapporteur, and refers to the jurisprudence and standards on: prohibition of prior censorship, prohibition of desacato laws, proportionality of subsequent liability, prohibition of indirect restrictions on speech, access to information and violence against media workers. .

Social protest is recognized and protected as intrinsic to the existence and consolidation of democracies by the inter-American system of human rights. As per the instruments of the inter-American system, the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association guarantee and protect individual and collective forms of public expression of opinions, dissent, demand for compliance with human rights, and affirmation of the historically marginalized groups in society. Despite such recognition, the region continues to repress and limit the exercise of these rights in the public sphere, due to the notion of citizen mobilization being disruptive for public order or a threat to the stability of democratic institutions. The objective of this report, therefore, is to “contribute to a better understanding of State obligations aimed at guaranteeing, protecting, and facilitating public protests and demonstrations, as well as the standards that should frame the progressive use of force—and as a last resort—in protest contexts”. The report discusses: guiding principles, applicable legal framework, obligation to respect rights, obligation to protect and facilitate, obligation to guarantee rights, protests and the internet, access to information, states of emergency, and conclusions and recommendations. 

The New Zealand’s Law Commission Report reviews the law of sedition in New Zealand, and traces its history in common law. It has concluded that the width of the seditious offences under the law means they are an unjustifiable breach of the right of freedom of expression. Considering that defaming the Government is right of every citizen, the Law Commission recommended the repeal of the sedition laws in the country.

 Chapter II of the report  (A/HRC/7/14) "presents an overall review of the main issues addressed by the Special Rapporteur throughout his mandate, specifically in the realms of the right of access to information, safety and protection of media professionals, legal restrictions on freedom of opinion and expression as well as the impact of freedom of expression on the realization of other human rights."

“This article reviews the application of laws against sedition in China and, in particular, recently publicised applications of these laws against two leading political dissidents in China. This analysis is placed within the context of a preliminary review of the development of laws against sedition principally in the United States. It concludes that it is not the abuse of China’s anti-sedition laws, as laws, which we need to be most concerned about. The more crucial problem relates to the political context, influenced often by international factors, which shapes decisions to use these laws.”

This manual describes the historical evolution of Sedition laws and the recent developments in this field. It also provides a comparative study of sedition laws across different countries. It deals with how sedition laws have been dealt with in contemporary India, and brings together various arguments to make the case for the repeal of these laws.

This article provides a review of the history, structure and form of the law of sedition, focusing on the new provisions inserted into the Criminal Code Act 1995 in 2005 as part of a wider counter-terrorism package. A short historical review of sedition in Australia is followed by a critical analysis of the new offences, which explores the constitutional and human rights implications of these new offences. It concludes that the law does not achieve the proposed balance between national security and human rights.