Argumentative Essay - Grade: 120/150 PDF

Preview

Summary

Argument about freedom of speech...

Description

Freedom of speech In the century of globalization and multiculturalism, people have a lot of wider opportunities than they did a hundred years ago. Freedom, as a right and as a value, has extremely changed the view of society, its pains and needs. Almost constitutions of any country state that all citizens should have the right of freedom of speech and expression, as well as laws that provide protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech and thoughts. For example, the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution states that “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.” With this freedom, people can speak up for their mind without restriction or hesitation but this in fact also has some negative sides. Freedom is the most fundamental right of every person in the world. Freedom speech is the most important type of interaction because without those there would be no history and science for development at all. Liberty of words shows the power especially in politics or government. Most importantly, everyone has right to think and act without causing harm or authority on any other individual. The freedom of speech can be defined as the right of a person to express thoughts, ideas, and personal opinions through a desired media without any restrictions as long as these actions do not interfere the rights of another person. Free expression has been well-established in our hearts as an unwritten law since early time, even before formal recognition by any authority and society. Different countries have different rules to the extent that as freedom of speech is concerned, with some countries’ governments becoming more involved than other governments who stand with their citizens. Communist countries like China and Vietnam are often in the news

for blocking their citizens’ access to the internet and restricting their ability to reach and express ideas and beliefs of which their government does not approve. But here in the United States, examples of freedom of speech include criticisms against the government and the president; the promotion of ideas or beliefs that others might find to be controversial. In the U.S., these kinds of statements are allowed, within the constraints of the “offense principle,” or the “harm principle.” Ability to think and act accordingly defines humans between other living creatures on the Earth. Nowadays, the level of democracy and wide freedom of speech over the world provides endless opportunities for people to share knowledge, thoughts and ideas. In fact, mass media is the best means of communication for the society to utilize its right to freedom of expression. The idea of a free, independent, and diversified media has become the ideal to be achieved to fully ensure the right to seek, receive and transmit information. However, freedom of expression can conflict with other basic and human rights. For example, under certain circumstances, the insult or disparagement of a person constitutes a prohibited violation of human dignity. That is why it is important to regulate defamation. Defamation is the publishing of a statement regarding a person’s reputation to the effect that the statement lowers the person in the estimation of right-thinking members of the society. The essence of defamation law is actually to control expressions which injure people’s reputation without any justification. If rules and regulation are not put in order, people will make use of freedom of speech to attack other individuals’ self-esteem and hurt their feelings. To sum up, freedom of speech has many exceptions and is not defined just as it is stated. If we take it into account not only political life, we have to admit that freedom of speech and thoughts is necessary for development. Again, new ideas are born in debates and discussions

and this is the key to success. The diversity of points of view and opinions creates conditions that are perfect for progress and development. We have yet to find the perfect medium between freedom and regulation of speech that would be suitable for everyone.

WORKS CITED Feinberg, Barbara Silberdick. “Explaining the Bill of Rights.” The Constitution: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.

Scholastic. Web. 19 Nov. 2018.

http:/www.Scholastic.com/teachers/article/explaining-bill-rights. United States. Congress. House. Bill of Rights of the United States of America. Bill of Rights Institute. Web. 19 Nov. 2018. http://billofrightsinstitute.org/founding-documents/bill-of-rights....