Freedom of Speech - An Opinion Article

Freedom of speech - should it be absolute? The answer is yes- it should be absolute, and cannot be restricted in any way. Some people think that free speech should be restricted to outlaw hate speech, or discriminatory comments. I definitely agree that these things are wrong, and a restriction under a democratic government would be acceptable, and people will be arrested under it. Keeping in mind that democratic governments misuse such restrictions on speech too, what happens when an authoritarian government comes to power and arbitrarily decides what counts as hate speech? What happens when, using what a democratic government did as a precedent, the new regime arrests anybody who speaks up, all under the guise of promoting equality? Therein lies the crux of the matter. What a person says is open to subjective interpretation. Putting a restriction on what people can say is not the answer, no matter how extreme their views. If we do that, there’ll be a day where we, who are arguably on the right side of history, will be where people like the white supremacists stand today. Instead of stopping people from saying things, a change in mindset needs to be brought about through constant education and other mediums of cultural change. Use movies and TV shows to that advantage. Teach it in schools. But don’t restrict people. 

 It is undeniable that freedom of speech, that freedom of expression, is something that is inextricably intertwined with democracy itself.