Freedom of
speech is an invaluable right and privilege of people who live in a democracy.
However, the privilege to speak one's mind on any topic or subject can often be
easily abused. For such extreme cases, governments can and should restrict
freedom of speech. There are many situations in which freedom of speech can be
harmful.
One type of
speech which should be limited is any speech that can put people or a nation in
physical danger. An anti-war person could obtain military secrets and post them
online. If this were to happen, lives of soldiers could be put in jeopardy. No
person should be allowed to publish sensitive information about the government.
Similarly, people should not be able to threaten others through their speech.
For example, a person may not call out "fire!" in a theater when
there is no danger.
People should
also not be allowed to give false information that damages others. Lying and
deceiving to harm the reputation of another person or of a company should not
be allowed. If this were the case, people could say horrible falsehoods about a
person or rival they disliked and claim that they are protected under freedom
of speech. This is clearly wrong. In fact, laws exist already which make these
types of lies a crime - libel, written lies, and slander, spoken lies.
Finally, speech
that is hateful or unsuitable for certain people should be restricted. Hate
speech and racial slurs that target other people based on their race or
nationality should never be tolerated. There should also be limits placed on
what can be said or shown if minors are present. Children and young adults
should not be exposed to unsuitable material such as pornography. In fact,
these types of restrictions already exist in media. Adult or unsuitable content
is censored in many television shows and movies.
No one denies
that everyone must have the freedom to express themselves in a democracy. With
every freedom, however, there must be restrictions. With freedom of speech, it
is apparent that not all speech is acceptable.
----------------------------------------------------------
All content has been written by ESL Debate Topics and is copyrighted. Pleaase contact us if you would like permission to use this essay.
No comments:
Post a Comment