Eleanor Roosevelt and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)—Article 19 states that "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the
freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation,
censorship, or legal sanction. The
right to freedom of expression has been recognised as a
human right in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
international human rights law by the
United Nations. Many countries have
constitutional law that protects free speech. Terms like free speech, freedom of speech, and freedom of expression are used interchangeably in political discourse. However, in a legal sense, the freedom of expression includes any activity of seeking, receiving, and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used.
Article 19 of the UDHR states that "everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference" and "everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice". The version of Article 19 in the
ICCPR later amends this by stating that the exercise of these rights carries "special duties and responsibilities" and may "therefore be subject to certain restrictions" when necessary "[f]or respect of the rights or reputation of others" or "[f]or the protection of
national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or
morals". (Full article...)
The CPJ International Press Freedom Awards honor journalists or their publications around the world who show courage in defending
press freedom despite facing attacks, threats, or imprisonment. Established in 1991, the awards are administered by the
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent, non-governmental organization based in
New York City. In addition to recognizing individuals, the organization seeks to focus local and international media coverage on countries where violations of press freedom are particularly serious. Every November four to seven individuals or publications are honored at a banquet in New York City and given an award. The ceremony also honors the winner of the Burton Benjamin Memorial Award for "lifelong work to advance press freedom". Past hosts have included crime correspondent and former hostage
Terry A. Anderson, Amanpour host
Christiane Amanpour, and NBC Nightly News anchors
Brian Williams and
Tom Brokaw In 1998, the ceremony was briefly disrupted by protesters who unfurled a banner calling for the release of former
Black PantherMumia Abu-Jamal from
Pennsylvania's death row. The first awards were given in 1991 to American photojournalist
Bill Foley and his wife, journalist
Cary Vaughan; Cameroonian reporter
Pius Njawé; Chinese dissidents
Wang Juntao and
Chen Ziming; Russian television news anchor
Tatyana Mitkova; and Guatemalan reporter
Byron Barrera. In 2012, the organization awarded its twenty-second group of journalists. On three occasions, an award was also given to a news organization of which multiple staffers have been at risk: Tajikistan newspaper Navidi Vakhsh (1994), several reporters of which murdered during the
1992–97 civil war; Guatemalan newspaper Siglo Veintiuno (1995), which was subject to police and army raids for its uncensored coverage of government corruption and human rights violations; and Turkish newspaper Özgür Gündem (1996), which was subject to a campaign of publication bans, assassinations, and arrests for its reporting on the conflict between the
Turkish Armed Forces and the
Kurdistan Workers' Party.
Image 8George Orwell statue at the headquarters of the
BBC. A defence of free speech in an open society, the wall behind the statue is inscribed with the words "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear", words from
George Orwell's proposed preface to Animal Farm (1945). (from Freedom of speech)
Image 19Orthodox priest
Libor Halík with a group of followers. Halík has been chanting daily for over five years against abortion via megaphone in front of a maternity hospital in
Brno,
Moravia. (from Freedom of speech by country)
Image 27Eleanor Roosevelt and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)—Article 19 states that "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." (from Freedom of speech)
Hrant Dink (September 15, 1954 – January 19, 2007) was a
Turkish-Armenianeditor,
journalist and
columnist. As
editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos (Ակօս), Dink was a prominent member of the
Armenian minority in
Turkey. Dink was best known for advocating Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and
human and minority rights in Turkey; he was often critical of both Turkey's
denial of the
Armenian Genocide, and of the
Armenian diaspora's campaign for its international recognition. Dink was prosecuted three times for
denigrating Turkishness, while receiving numerous death threats from Turkish nationalists. Hrant Dink was
assassinated in
Istanbul in January 2007, by
Ogün Samast, a 17-year old Turkish nationalist. While Samast has since been taken into custody, pictures of the alleged assassin flanked by smiling Turkish police and
gendarmerie, posing with the killer in front of the Turkish flag, have since surfaced. The photos created a scandal in Turkey, prompting a spate of investigations and the removal from office of those involved. At his funeral, one hundred thousand mourners marched in protest of the assassination, chanting "We are all Armenians" and "We are all Hrant Dink". Criticism of
Article 301 became increasingly vocal after his death, leading to parliamentary proposals for repeal.
Freedom of speech is central to most every other right that we hold dear in the United States and serves to strengthen the democracy of our great country. It is unfortunate, then, when actions occur that might be interpreted as contrary to this honored tenet.
This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by
JL-Bot (
talk·contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is
tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Freedom of speech}}) or
categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See
WP:RECOG for configuration options.
Eleanor Roosevelt and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)—Article 19 states that "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the
freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation,
censorship, or legal sanction. The
right to freedom of expression has been recognised as a
human right in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
international human rights law by the
United Nations. Many countries have
constitutional law that protects free speech. Terms like free speech, freedom of speech, and freedom of expression are used interchangeably in political discourse. However, in a legal sense, the freedom of expression includes any activity of seeking, receiving, and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used.
Article 19 of the UDHR states that "everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference" and "everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice". The version of Article 19 in the
ICCPR later amends this by stating that the exercise of these rights carries "special duties and responsibilities" and may "therefore be subject to certain restrictions" when necessary "[f]or respect of the rights or reputation of others" or "[f]or the protection of
national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or
morals". (Full article...)
The CPJ International Press Freedom Awards honor journalists or their publications around the world who show courage in defending
press freedom despite facing attacks, threats, or imprisonment. Established in 1991, the awards are administered by the
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent, non-governmental organization based in
New York City. In addition to recognizing individuals, the organization seeks to focus local and international media coverage on countries where violations of press freedom are particularly serious. Every November four to seven individuals or publications are honored at a banquet in New York City and given an award. The ceremony also honors the winner of the Burton Benjamin Memorial Award for "lifelong work to advance press freedom". Past hosts have included crime correspondent and former hostage
Terry A. Anderson, Amanpour host
Christiane Amanpour, and NBC Nightly News anchors
Brian Williams and
Tom Brokaw In 1998, the ceremony was briefly disrupted by protesters who unfurled a banner calling for the release of former
Black PantherMumia Abu-Jamal from
Pennsylvania's death row. The first awards were given in 1991 to American photojournalist
Bill Foley and his wife, journalist
Cary Vaughan; Cameroonian reporter
Pius Njawé; Chinese dissidents
Wang Juntao and
Chen Ziming; Russian television news anchor
Tatyana Mitkova; and Guatemalan reporter
Byron Barrera. In 2012, the organization awarded its twenty-second group of journalists. On three occasions, an award was also given to a news organization of which multiple staffers have been at risk: Tajikistan newspaper Navidi Vakhsh (1994), several reporters of which murdered during the
1992–97 civil war; Guatemalan newspaper Siglo Veintiuno (1995), which was subject to police and army raids for its uncensored coverage of government corruption and human rights violations; and Turkish newspaper Özgür Gündem (1996), which was subject to a campaign of publication bans, assassinations, and arrests for its reporting on the conflict between the
Turkish Armed Forces and the
Kurdistan Workers' Party.
Image 8George Orwell statue at the headquarters of the
BBC. A defence of free speech in an open society, the wall behind the statue is inscribed with the words "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear", words from
George Orwell's proposed preface to Animal Farm (1945). (from Freedom of speech)
Image 19Orthodox priest
Libor Halík with a group of followers. Halík has been chanting daily for over five years against abortion via megaphone in front of a maternity hospital in
Brno,
Moravia. (from Freedom of speech by country)
Image 27Eleanor Roosevelt and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)—Article 19 states that "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." (from Freedom of speech)
Hrant Dink (September 15, 1954 – January 19, 2007) was a
Turkish-Armenianeditor,
journalist and
columnist. As
editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos (Ակօս), Dink was a prominent member of the
Armenian minority in
Turkey. Dink was best known for advocating Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and
human and minority rights in Turkey; he was often critical of both Turkey's
denial of the
Armenian Genocide, and of the
Armenian diaspora's campaign for its international recognition. Dink was prosecuted three times for
denigrating Turkishness, while receiving numerous death threats from Turkish nationalists. Hrant Dink was
assassinated in
Istanbul in January 2007, by
Ogün Samast, a 17-year old Turkish nationalist. While Samast has since been taken into custody, pictures of the alleged assassin flanked by smiling Turkish police and
gendarmerie, posing with the killer in front of the Turkish flag, have since surfaced. The photos created a scandal in Turkey, prompting a spate of investigations and the removal from office of those involved. At his funeral, one hundred thousand mourners marched in protest of the assassination, chanting "We are all Armenians" and "We are all Hrant Dink". Criticism of
Article 301 became increasingly vocal after his death, leading to parliamentary proposals for repeal.
Freedom of speech is central to most every other right that we hold dear in the United States and serves to strengthen the democracy of our great country. It is unfortunate, then, when actions occur that might be interpreted as contrary to this honored tenet.
This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by
JL-Bot (
talk·contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is
tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Freedom of speech}}) or
categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See
WP:RECOG for configuration options.
.jpg)
.svg)
.jpg)
_01.jpg)
.jpg)
