Questions tagged [freedom-of-speech]
Freedom of Speech is a political belief that the government should not regulate forms of speech merely because it dislikes said speech. Use this tag to discuss the broader theory, or laws that restrict speech
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Why is the US ranked as #45 in Press Freedom ratings, despite its extremely permissive free speech laws?
According to the Press Freedom Index, the US is ranked at a meager 45th position in the global ranking of countries. In comparison, New Zealand is currently at the 8th spot despite having an official "...
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What is the rationale behind Angela Merkel's criticism of Donald Trump's ban on Twitter?
According to CNBC, Angela Merkel (via her chief spokesman) criticized Donald Trump's ban on Twitter.
“The right to freedom of opinion is of fundamental importance,”
Steffen Seibert, Merkel’s chief ...
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Why is Poland's proposed Holocaust speech law so controversial?
From what I understood, the law focuses on 2 things:
Calling death camps located in Nazi-occupied Poland "Polish death camps".
Blaming Poland as a nation for the Holocaust.
It seems only the second ...
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Why should public servants be apolitical?
The High Court of Australia has recently ruled in Comcare v. Banerji which was a test case that revealed the limits of the implied freedom of speech in Australia.
A public servant, Michaela Banerji, ...
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Freedom of speech and where it applies
There seems to be multiple definitions of freedom of speech out there, and I hear a lot about how companies like Google and Twitter are exempt from this as they are private entities and freedom of ...
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Are there really no countries that protect Freedom of Speech as the United States does?
During the past few months I've seen a few news items about Europeans not having that much freedom of speech online, specifically in the UK. Americans, on the other hand, always pride themselves on ...
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Would it be illegal for Facebook to actively promote a political agenda?
There's a lot of discussion in the past years on whether or not Facebook is using their platform to promote a certain political agenda and influence elections. Facebook denies such accusations but ...
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Is it a fundamental tenet of liberalism to allow the expression of illiberal ideals?
In recent years, the US has seen a rise in a priori rejection or "cancelling" of illiberal ideas on the left. In essence, these ideas are being rejected from mainstream liberal society ...
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Is 'identity politics' vs 'freedom of speech' a valid dichotomy?
I've heard one friend say:
I'm sick of all this political correctness. People should be able to say what they think. Words never physically hurt anybody. Freedom of speech is part of the US ...
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Does freedom of speech mean freedom to mock everything? [closed]
It's widely known that in most western countries, it's allowed to mock religion - because of freedom of speech.
Does freedom of speech allow one to mock everything, or are there taboo subjects that ...
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If the Russian regime is so popular, why does it need to invest into limiting freedom of expression?
According to this article, Putin has signed two laws that further limit freedom of expression (law source):
Two new laws in Russia jeopardize the privacy and security of internet
users and aim to ...
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In countries without free press, why don't newspapers simply move overseas?
In regions without free press, or where press are under constant threat of arrest, why don't media organisations move their organisation outside the country on which they report?
For example, if Hong ...
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What actions have governments critical of Macron's response to the murder of Samuel Paty called for?
Following the murder of Samuel Paty in France two weeks ago, Emmanuel Macron gave a speech [fr] in which he defended freedom of expression and said "we won't give up on caricatures". This ...
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What is the rationale for foreign interference in a democratic election being intrinsically bad?
In Sanders on Trump and the challenge for the left – full transcript (published in the Guardian, which was behind Operation Clark County), Sanders describe Russian interference in the US presidential ...
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Why don't politicians get fact checked immediately? [closed]
In this age of information and mobile phones with Google in our pocket, I ask myself, and hereby you: Why don't politicians get fact checked immediately?
I guess that a lot of what a politician says ...
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What limitations to freedom of speech are there in the US and Canada?
Freedom of speech is understood to be fundamental in a democracy. What limitations to freedom of speech are there in the United States of America and in Canada? Is Holocaust denial an example?
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Why does the US Constitution mention freedom of the press in addition to freedom of speech?
The First Amendment to the US Constitution proclaims that "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...."
Why is (or was) it necessary to specifically mention ...
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Why can't we use freedom of speech and expression to incite people to rebel against government in India? [closed]
In India we are not allowed to incite people to rebel against the government. Why are we not allowed to do so?
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Is it illegal for foreigners to pay US citizens to engage in political activities in the US?
It's been reported that 13 Russian Federation citizens have been indicted in the US for waging a misinformation campaign during the last Presidential election cycle in the hopes of sowing discontent. ...
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What can US senators do against diversity trainings in the US Army?
Recently, I've read about Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton and Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw launching a campaign against diversity training in the US Army:
We won’t let our military fall to woke ideology,
I ...
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Is it illegal for candidates to pay a journalist to publish fake news?
Say candidate A and candidate B both want to be elected president.
Then candidate A pays a journalist to publish an invented story about candidate B. For example where candidate B killed a cat.
Then ...
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What has led to Poland's rapid fall in the World Press Freedom Index over the last 5 years?
In the last week, the 2020 World Press Freedom Index was published (map of results here). One thing in particular which stood out to me was Poland's ranking of 62nd overall, along with a rough ...
CDJB♦
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Can US Congress members be (successfully) sued for defamation?
What is the level of protection of Congress members against civil lawsuits for statements they make, e.g. can they be successfully sued for defamation (libel, slander etc.)?
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Is there a ranking of countries' freedom of speech for non-journalists?
I know Reporters Without Borders compiles a Press Freedom Index, but this is not the same thing as freedom of speech for non-journalists. Is there another ranking that specifically addresses the ...
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Has the US Department of Justice made an attempt to define what is or isn't journalistic activity? Developing new policy, but to what will it apply?
From Politico's FBI raid on Project Veritas founder’s home sparks questions about press freedom
At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last month, Garland was asked who qualifies as a journalist ...
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Why does Germany ban flag burning?
Today, I learnt that:
Germany is considering a three year jail sentence for burning the EU flag.
Germany currently prohibits the burning of the German flag.
This prohibition isn’t solely for ...
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Why did a UK judge place a reporting ban on Tommy Robinson's arrest?
Tommy Robinson (A far right political activist in the UK) was arrested last week outside a UK courthouse.
As FOX Reported:
The judge in the case on Friday slapped a reporting ban on the case. The ...
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Are there modern theories of free speech that account for the inequality of the marketplace of ideas?
Recent critiques of the "marketplace of ideas" theory of free speech have noted inherent shortcomings with this system, namely:
People do not have equal ability to spread their ideas in the ...
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How can this new ban on drag possibly be considered constitutional?
This seems impossibly ridiculous.
How do they define, specifically, what it means to be dressed in drag? Let's say we are clear on whether someone is male or not; now, what does it mean, specifically, ...
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What is Trump's social networks executive order about?
I've seen a titles which tell that it's a nightmare for those companies (Google, Facebook, Twitter). But they're pretty vague on it. What exactly does it do to them?
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Did Governor Cuomo suspend First Amendment rights?
Yesterday, Governor Cuomo of New York issued an executive order that public funding will be slashed from all companies or businesses operating in the state of New York that openly boycott or sanction ...
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Why the recent crackdown on rappers and other popular musicians in Russia?
Recently, the rapper Husky (Хаски) got his concert effectively banned by the Russian law enforcement agencies, allegedly because his lyrics contained themes incompatible with the "children protection" ...
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How democratic was Venezuela when Hugo Chavez was elected?
How democratic was Venezuela when Hugo Chavez was elected? Freedom of speech? Level of corruption? Rule of law?
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Berkeley Riots: Protest or Infringment of Rights
The violence that preempted the talk of a prominent alt-right speaker on University of California Berkeley's campus has set off a debate over the role of free speech in American society. Did the ...
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Does EU freedom of speech allow a license plate that taunts a political party?
A few weeks ago a Romanian bought a personalized number plate from Sweden that seemed perfectly fine for Swedish Transport Agency is usually very vigilant when approving such plates.
However, this ...
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What limitations to freedom of speech are there in France?
The question is similar to this one:
Freedom of speech is understood to be fundamental in a democracy. What limitations to freedom of speech are there in France? Is holocaust denial an example? can ...
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How do New Left proponents of No Platforming answer John Stuart Mill's claim that all silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility?
I'm trying to listen to both sides of this issue to get a better understanding. If this question could be better worded to be more helpful, please help me out.
As I understand it one of the thinkers ...
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What is the reasoning behind the statement "I don't tolerate the intolerant"?
On a debating panel I saw someone make the claim to a Conservative debater:
I don't tolerate the intolerant.
I'm trying to be open minded about this, and see what the reasoning is here so I can ...
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Polish Holocaust law: Is everybody talking about the wrong thing?
Currently, there is an ongoing discussion about the new Polish 'Holocaust law' and the possible whitewashing of their own past.
Then I read excerpts of the text. I primarily used the translation on ...
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Which countries have blocked access to rt.com?
We know that the EU countries have blocked access to rt.com, and some people in India have also reported that they can no longer get to it. But not all western countries have blocked it. Does anyone ...
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Why is Facebook not restricted by the U.S. government to be politically neutral, like the U.S. Army, for example?
To start with, here is the context of the question. I recently heared about this (in fact, rather old - about 4 months ago) story: Mark Zuckerberg reportedly pressured a top Facebook VR exec to drop ...
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Why did the US vote against a UN anti-Nazi resolution?
Recently, there was a UN vote (similar to the one in 2017) on a resolution that condemned the glorification of Nazism. As in the previous vote, the USA (along with Ukraine), voted against the motion, ...
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How could SpaceX prevent military use of their satellites while preserving free speech absolutism?
According to Western media, citing Russian officials, Russia has somewhat transparently threatened to attack SpaceX satellites.
September 19, 2022
A Russian representative named Konstantin Vorontsov ...
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Is there any country that officially banned "COVID-denial" or "COVID anti-vaccination" speech?
Romania has a very COVID-related mortality rate (when compared to the population) and the main cause seems to be the low vaccination rate:
The country is paying the price for having the European ...
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Has there been any attempt to prevent false information from spreading? (legal fact check)
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, said during his new year press conference he would soon propose laws preventing false information from spreading on the web ("fausses nouvelles", more or less ...
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Freedom of Speech and Assembly in China [closed]
If a group of five Chinese citizens assemble in a Beijing park with a "Democracy Now" sign (or its equivalent in Chinese characters) for a few hours every Saturday, are they likely to be ...
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What is the status of regulation of Social Media Companies in the US?
Twitter and Facebook (and other social media sites) recently became the focus of a lot of attention for the role they did or did not play in allowing the spread of information (or disinformation) ...
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Is there an international consensus about Privacy vs Security (How Much Data Should We Collect?)
On the one hand, privacy gives people leeway for free thought, freedom of expression, and criticism without fear of personal consequences.
On the other hand, security ensures the structural integrity ...
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Were there any "Punch A Nazi" polls done in the US?
The "Punch a Nazi" event in the United States was an interesting phenomena where Richard Spencer (A self titled Identitarian) was punched by an anarchist generating the question "Is it OK to punch a ...
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How does Germany justify banning the YPG flag?
According to Wikipedia:
In Germany, there is a ban on PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party] symbols that, as of March 2017, is officially extended the YPG [People's Protection Units] and YPJ [Women's ...
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