Freedom of Speech

Freedom of Speech or Free Speech as called by many is a basic human right as recognized by the
United Nations and the International community.
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as proclaimed by the United Nations'
General Assembly 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".
This is one of the 30 articles proclaimed by the UN General Assembly and just like every other article
containing other human rights, Freedom of Opinion, Expression or Speech is a common standard of
achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of
society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to
promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and
international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the
peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
This clearly states that Freedom of opinion & expression or speech is an exclusive fundamental
human right for every individual in any part of the world. Every individual has the right to hold his/her
own opinions and to express them freely without any form of government, religious or community
interference.
This includes the right to express one's views vocally or through any of the following means:
Books, Pamphlets, Published articles, Television or Radio (Broadcast or Print Media), Art works
(Cartoons, Comic images), social media, blogs as well as other communication platforms on the
internet.
Freedom of speech in a democratic society as is common in almost every country is peculiarly of
great importance to journalists, editors and press agencies in general. This is so because one
feature of a democratic state is the freedom of criticism by journalists in a bid to correct some
irregularities in government without fear of prosecution.
However, this right of free opinion, expression or speech has been evidently abused as some
journalists & press agents have usurped the privilege and modified it into an avenue for denigration.
Freedom of speech or Free speech should not becloud our sense of rational reasoning and make us
forget that there are restrictions attached to every right. The restriction in this case is that of Respect
of others' beliefs or religion.
Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights clearly stated that "Everyone has the right to
freedom of thought, conscience and RELIGION; this right includes freedom to change his RELIGION
or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest
his RELIGION or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance".

Freedom of Religion in this context and from my own point of view should refer to non-interference of
any other religion and equal respect for all religions.
A violation of this respect for peoples' religion/belief led to the deadly January 7, 2015 Charlie Hebdo
Attacks in Paris which claimed the lives of 12 people including some journalists and cartoonists who
have been involved in some satirical publications in which they caricatured the prophet Mohammed
of the Islamic religion. This gave rise to the Islamic terrorism which shook France and is still shaking
the rest of the world.
Barely 38 days after the Charlie Hebdo attacks (Feb.14), a similar attack occurred in Copenhagen,
Denmark , when at a public afternoon event called "Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression",
held at the Krudttnden cultural centre, a gunman killed one civilian and wounded three police
officers.
A controversial Swedish Artist & Cartoonist, Lars Vilks, was among the speakers at the event, and
reports have it that he was the main target of the terrorist attack because of his series of caricature
drawings of the Islamic prophet.
There are very many things to write about or draw, but I do not subscribe to any form of writing or
drawing that profanes the religion of any people. Everyone would want to protect and defend his/her
religion verbally or literally. However, the Islamic Extremists who perpetrate acts of terrorism in the
name of religious struggle or Jihad, take advantage of the excesses of those journalists who go
beyond their boundaries. Terrorism is linked to abuse of press freedom and there is need to address
this issue globally because many have lost their lives and many more will be at jeopardy if the
journalists/press do not apply discretion in their publications or speeches going forward.
Freedom of speech is not a license to abuse, it is a responsibility & as such, should be carried out
responsibly and with dignity. Censorship must not be ruled out in every article (text, cartoon, graphic
drawing) you intend to use to express yourself.