Freedom of Speech: Should It Be Allowed Completely or Limited?

 by Miles Davidson

Freedom of speech is the right to say what you want and when you want. This means you can express any opinion you want, no matter if it offends anyone or if it is deemed wrong in someone else’s eyes. For instance, in the UK, we do not have complete freedom of speech as you cannot express negative opinions on their sexuality, race etc. In North Korea, you have barely any freedom of speech, due to laws that have been made to stop conspiracies and targeted hate against governments / specific groups

I believe that we should have complete freedom of speech as it can be very beneficial to many people. It means people can have opinions on a person without being scolded for being mean or inconsiderate. Throughout history disagreements have been ripe but they are always sorted out. It is human nature to judge and to have opinions, and by having laws against certain freedoms is just restricting this nature.

I would, however, completely understand if someone was to disagree with complete freedom of speech as it can cause huge issues, such as genocides. For instance, in Rwanda in 1994, there was a mass genocide of over 1 million people due to people holding opinions on each other. This was completely fabricated just because someone held a negative opinion about someone else and did lead 1 million innocent people to lose their lives. Complete freedom of speech is dangerous as it can lead to minorities being targeted severely and ultimately leads to deaths of thousands, sometimes millions, of innocent people.

Freedom of speech has to be managed and, although in a perfect world we would have freedom of speech everywhere, it can lead to severe implications if it isn't. That isn’t to say Freedom of speech is bad, however. It can lead to hugely beneficial events, such as the shaping of a country. For instance, if everyone was allowed to voice their opinions and concerns, then the country would actually be a 100% democratic country. If an overwhelming majority want change in a certain area, they can change it as government officials will either choose to ignore them and face getting voted out or they can listen and stay in power, something any politician wants. In this way, freedom of speech can be beneficial in shaping a purely democratic country.

Overall, I feel freedom of speech should be a right that every human should have, no matter what they want to say. Although this can lead to negative events, a majority would not cause bad by having their voice heard. By having freedom of speech, it allows a country to grow and become the country its citizens want it to be, regardless of what one person in power wants it to be. Laws can be made to protect people who have come under fire from freedom of speech, but no laws should prohibit you from doing what you really want to.