132
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What is the rationale behind Angela Merkel's criticism of Donald Trump's ban on Twitter?
While Germany does promote free speech, same as the USA does, their free speech means something different:
False information is not an object worthy of protection from the
viewpoint of freedom of ...
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122
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Why is the US ranked as #45 in Press Freedom ratings, despite its extremely permissive free speech laws?
You need to keep in mind that the press freedom ratings is not a measure of freedom of speech, but freedom of the press, and the US is still ranked as "fairly good".
Specifically, the index ...
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87
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Is it a fundamental tenet of liberalism to allow the expression of illiberal ideals?
This is The Paradox of Tolerance, as mentioned in the comments, and it is a debated grey area.
Let's use your three examples, and let's observe that these all happened in the US. This constrains their ...
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84
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Why is the US ranked as #45 in Press Freedom ratings, despite its extremely permissive free speech laws?
tim's answer already covers the Press Freedom Index methodology.
I'd like to add that for the United States the significant component of the result is the abuses score of 37.40.
This is a fairly ...
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82
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Freedom of speech and where it applies
This is a common misconception. Freedom of speech does not mean that everybody can say whatever they want, whenever they want and wherever they want. It means essentially that people cannot be legally ...
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71
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In countries without free press, why don't newspapers simply move overseas?
A news company is mostly its employees. Who also have a personal life. Or who might be subject to travel restrictions. When you move your operation to a different country, then you will have to leave ...
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64
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Are there really no countries that protect Freedom of Speech as the United States does?
Of course no other country protects freedom of speech "as the United States do." They have their own rules which are not quite the same. Some give equivalent protections, some do not.
There is a ...
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63
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Why is Poland's proposed Holocaust speech law so controversial?
The Law and Polish Complicity in the Holocaust
While "Poland as a nation" is not to blame for the Holocaust, and while there was no official cooperation between Poland and Germany, government ...
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54
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Why don't politicians get fact checked immediately?
Fact checking is neither easy nor instantaneous.
The time taken to fact-check even a simple statement and do it thoroughly is measured in hours, not minutes.
For example, let's take one of Trump's ...
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51
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What is the rationale behind Angela Merkel's criticism of Donald Trump's ban on Twitter?
We can not read Angela Merkel's mind, so her true motives are pure speculation. However, the original article by Reuters which is named as a source in the CNBC article linked in the question expands ...
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48
votes
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Why should public servants be apolitical?
This topic is examined at quite some length in Ontario Law Reform Commission, Report on Political Activity, Public Comment and Disclosure by Crown Employees (1986) (cited by
Mcmanus v Scott-Charlton ...
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47
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Does freedom of speech mean freedom to mock everything?
In very general terms, the contemporary understanding of freedom of expression is that it should be relatively uninhibited provided that it satisfies two conditions:
It does not infringe on other ...
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40
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If the Russian regime is so popular, why does it need to invest into limiting freedom of expression?
TL;DR: The answer to "why" is because limits on freedom of expression makes the regime less disliked (your question is confusing cause and effect - the popularity of the regime is a ...
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39
votes
Would it be illegal for Facebook to actively promote a political agenda?
1) They would be absolutely allowed to promote any political agenda as a publisher, but not necessarily as a platform. It's contentious whether famous Section 230 allows them to find a perfect sweet ...
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39
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Does freedom of speech mean freedom to mock everything?
It is a bit more complicated. I live in Germany, and StGb §166 (StGb being "Strafgesetzbuch", the penal code) makes insults against religious groups illegal. There is also a paragraph in the ...
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36
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Are there really no countries that protect Freedom of Speech as the United States does?
ECHR Article 10 applies almost everywhere in Europe:
Article 10 – Freedom of expression
Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to ...
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36
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Do any democracies with strong freedom of expression have laws against religious desecration?
Are you aware of the 'no true Scotsman' fallacy? Plenty of countries claim to be democracies and to uphold freedom of speech. But there is no country I'm aware of where one can say anything, anywhere ...
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35
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Why should public servants be apolitical?
The core concept here is procedural fairness—or rather, the appearance of procedural fairness.
Procedural fairness involves whether impartial and open procedures are used when decisions affecting the ...
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34
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What limitations to freedom of speech are there in the US and Canada?
Up front: Holocaust Denial is not limited under U.S. law.
There is an adequate list on Wikipedia of free speech exceptions, that for convenience I will replicate here:
Communicative impact ...
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33
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What is the rationale behind Angela Merkel's criticism of Donald Trump's ban on Twitter?
There's an international dimension here. While US commentators largely see this in a US domestic context (an American company deciding what to do about American problems), Merkel will be looking at it ...
- 1,305
33
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Is there such a thing as "right to be heard" by the authorities?
Yes, this is normally called the "right to petition".
In the USA it is part of the first amendment:
Congress shall make no law [...] abridging [...] the right of the people [...] to ...
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31
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Are there really no countries that protect Freedom of Speech as the United States does?
Are there really no countries that protect Freedom of Speech as the
United States do?
The question is poorly framed. I interpreted it such that you imply that the US is at the top of some "Freedom ...
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30
votes
What can US senators do against diversity trainings in the US Army?
Congress can pass legislation to end or defund the programs
In the United States, Congress determines what the military is allowed to do and provides funding for those activities by passing ...
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28
votes
How can this new ban on drag possibly be considered constitutional?
Theoretically, the law would be constitutional because the Supreme Court has ruled that states can limit obscenity without violating the First Amendment, and the eyes of the Tennessee lawmakers, drag ...
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27
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Is 'identity politics' vs 'freedom of speech' a valid dichotomy?
This is not a valid dichotomy, because "identity politics" simply means an election campaign strategy of saying "Vote for us if you belong to [demographic] because we are the party of [demographic]". ...
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27
votes
Accepted
What is the rationale for foreign interference in a democratic election being intrinsically bad?
Because it Violates Sovereignty
The political science and legal concept here is sovereignty. The basic notion of sovereignty is that any sovereign power is free to rule itself without interference by ...
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27
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What can US senators do against diversity trainings in the US Army?
They are announcing a platform position for the next election, approximately "If Republicans are elected, we will end these diversity training programs.".
The purpose for asking for these ...
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25
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Is there such a thing as "right to be heard" by the authorities?
This heavily depends on the circumstances, the jurisdiction, and what exactly you mean by "the right to be heard." This answer will deal with the US, but I suspect that other western ...
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25
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Does this newly proposed French bill violate or go against the principles of international human right of free speech?
By "International Human Right", I shall assume you are referring to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It is worth quoting the relevant clauses:
Everyone has the right to ...
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24
votes
Accepted
Berkeley Riots: Protest or Infringment of Rights
Constitutional vs. human rights
Did the protestors, by effectively making the area surrounding the planned talk so unsafe that it had to be cancelled, infringe on the speaker's first amendment ...
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