Freedom of Expression/Culture and Politics/Depends on governance

Freedom of Expression

Is this right exercised in different ways depending on the political governance regime in place (democracy, autocracy, hybrid regime)?

The right to freedom of expression is not necessarily qualified as a protected human right in each country or sovereign government. Rather, it is a global human right, as stated in Act 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” (Civic, 1997, pg. 129). Within this declaration, a few key factors are revealed that are related to how the freedom of expression is exercised as a legally recognized right. First, expression is acknowledged as being equal to opinions; they are both very imperative when it comes to human rights and the exercise of freedom of expression. Without the acknowledgment of the inherent significance of freedom of expression in a group context or collective capacity, such as protections under the Constitution, the full exercise of the right will not be achieved without an elevated form of protection placed on it. “Therefore, naked freedom of expression, without some common sense or good community sense infused into it, ultimately will fail to protect the individual as a member of the community, by its total disregard for the needs of the society… Thus, while freedom of expression is essential to human dignity, additionally, for the ultimate good of the individual as a member of society, such freedom must be exercised responsibly and with a recognition of the integral relationship the autonomous self has with the greater society.” (Civic, 1997, pg.143). Although many different governments and nations recognize the significance of freedom of expression, they may not agree with the outcome of fully exercising this right for all citizens. Along those lines, when protections for freedom of expression are not present within a country or society, the full capacity for citizens to freely express their ideas and thoughts in an individual or community context will subsequently be stifled. The difference between protections of ‘freedom of expression’ and ‘freedom of speech’ is determined by the way that somebody voices or expresses an idea or opinion. Protections under the freedom of speech may be determined by the words themselves that are used, but the expression is conveyed through action, and moreover what a person is trying to show with that action. “The terms ‘expression’ and ‘action’ are functional ones, rooted in the fundamental character of a system of free expression and in the factors necessary to maintain its effective operation. Hence it is clear that the term ‘expression’ must include more than the mere utterance of words or other forms of communication. It must embrace a surrounding area of conduct closely related to the making of the utterance or necessary to make it effective.” (Emerson, 1964, pg. 24-25). Thomas Scanlon analyzed the theoretical significance of how freedom of expression is positioned between protected acts and the consequences of exercising this right. “The most common defense of the doctrine of freedom of expression is a consequential one. This may take the form of arguing with respect to a certain class of acts, e.g., acts of speech, that the good consequences of allowing such acts to go unrestricted outweigh the bad. Alternatively, the boundaries of the class of protected acts may themselves be defined by balancing good consequences against bad, the question of whether a certain species of acts belong to the private genus being decided in many is not all cases just by asking whether its inclusion would, on the whole, lead to more good consequences than bad.” (Scanlon, 1972, pg. 204-5). Within this analysis, the reflection of the significance of intention comes to light, where there is negative or malicious intent, protections remain absent under freedom of expression. One cannot use freedom of expression to instill violence, or suppression, but rather as a way to exude an opinion or idea that does not push these limitations under legal precedent. “However, since acts of expression can be both violent and arbitrarily destructive, it seems unlikely that anyone would maintain that as a class they were immune from legal restrictions. Thus the class of protected acts must be some proper subset of this class. It is sometimes held that the relevant subclass consists of those acts of expression which are instances of ‘speech’ as ‘opposed to action’.” (Scanlon, 1972, pg. 207). Freedom of speech differs inherently from the freedom of expression based on an action directive, a person can say something that goes against the government’s prerogative and not face legal consequences, but upon acting to overthrow or dismantle that government, the protection of expression does not extend to ‘fighting’ actions or malicious acts. This theorizing under the freedom of expression justly points out the differences between American protections of expression under democracy, versus a more autocratic regime that aligns itself with dictatorships or communist ideologies. For example, in the People’s Republic of China, a socialist democracy under the legal definition, the government chooses to remain neutral upon expression protections unless they conflict with the individualistic ideology of communal support. “The Communist perspective on free speech, by contrast, assigns absolute priority to the well-being of the community, and in so doing, sacrifices individual freedom of expression.” (Civic, 1997, pg. 127). Under the People’s Republic of China’s legal provisions, freedom of expression is intertwined with freedom of speech. “Speech and other forms of expression must be internally, as well as externally, restrained to serve all of the people [under the ideology of Communism]…Thus, the Chinese perception of free speech in particular, and human rights in general, is propelled by Communist ideology which emphasizes the interests of the community at the expense of individual interests. Finally, the ‘rights’ of the individual are defined relative to his duties to the community, and are subjected to qualification, restriction, and repression for community interests, as defined by the Communist Party elite.” (Civic, 1997, pg. 128). The gray area that is ‘freedom of expression’ within the ideology of Communism conflicts with the obvious reality of actually having protections of freedom of expression. Where there is no protection, there is a lack of freedom to act upon an idea or opinion. Although the freedom of expression is distinguishable from the freedom of speech, they are communally intertwined under the Communist ideology. Freedom of expression must serve to fit the relative overall needs of the community in the PRC through their freedom of speech, otherwise, it does not qualify legally as protection of freedom of expression.

References:

Civic, Melanne Andromecca. "Right to Freedom of Expression as the Principal Component of the Preservation of Personal Dignity: An Argument for International Protection within All Nations and across All Borders." In Hybrid, vol. 4, p. 117. 1997

Emerson, Thomas I. "Freedom of Association and Freedom of Expression." The Yale Law Journal 74, no. 1 (1964): 1-35.

Scanlon, Thomas. "A theory of freedom of expression." Philosophy & Public Affairs (1972): 204-226 (1972) : 204-226