Why Free Speech Matters - Essay Example

Running head: WHY FREE SPEECH MATTERS? Module: Why Free Speech Matters? General purpose In this speech we will look into whether free speech matters. Specific purpose We will look into the Arab World and particularly the UAE where we will discuss free speech issues with sample scenarios. Central idea Free speech actually matters a great deal. It results in a country’s growth and development and the governments and citizens in the Arab World and the UAE do not embrace free speech in the literal sense. Introduction Free speech is a fundamental right for people to enjoy. This is where one expresses their views regarding various issues surrounding them although in most cases it is exercised when people desire change. In the current world of intense political and social awareness facilitated by higher literacy and technological levels globally free speech proves to be of paramount importance. Freedom of speech in many countries is non-existent while in others it has been restricted to a certain level. Governments and human rights groups have been at loggerheads in order to strike a balance on what freedom of speech entails. There is no country where this freedom can be termed as absolute since the political class on numerous occasions curtails it. This applies to democratic countries like USA, Canada and Britain, African countries and extends to the East and the Arab World where free speech has been badly hampered (Barendt, 2005). The United Arab Emirates to be precise has offered minimal platform towards development of free speech and this hampers other developments economically, politically and socially. The world is drifting towards being free where all have the freedom to choose what to say and when to say it without fear of punishment. This has been as a result of much pressure from countries which exercise this freedom to a huge extent like the United States. Democratic governance does not go well with certain countries more so in the East where freedom of speech is almost absent (Barendt, 2005). This freedom is significant because it results in changes in the way people live and most importantly, governed. It is important to note in general that freedom of speech results in a wide scale spreading of lies and propaganda as we usually see in the media and day to day political gimmick. This hits on the political class than it does the corporate or any other. Free speech is fought for where the governance of a country or region has failed in one or many aspects of service delivery. This is one of the major reasons why we see governments being against free speech. The other issue with free speech lies in the extent to which this freedom is to be exercised. Looking at UK for example, Nick Griffin and David Irving are controversial figures based on their sentiments on the Holocaust and other politically unsound arguments (Books, LLC, 2010). The two have for a long time triggered violent demonstrations across the UK where they have been scheduled to speak. According to Chafee (2010) in Canada and the United States there have been increasing debates on blockage of websites that perpetuate political awareness e.g. the recent intended closure of an Anonymous Political Website (http://www.derechos.org/human-rights/speech/green.html) which was considered by political class as harmful. The United States has a few legislations being debated example being the one targeting information on how to make bombs or otherwise devices and gadgets. The movers of this law criminalize sharing of such information online or otherwise. In these countries the fight about free speech affected the current technology and flow of information. The Arab World on the other hand has the fight on free speech taken to all levels of human expression including the media. According to UCLA (2010) the Arab World has improved in this respect a great deal in the last 2 decades. The governments have been offering setbacks while the general population fears punishment. Human rights activists have been pressuring for free speech with many being imprisoned or detained while others go to exile (Books, LLC, 2010). The media has not been spared either. The media offers the avenue through which the public knows what is happening around them. For this reason these governments have tried hard to curtail free media in the Arab World. Al Arabia and Al Jazeera are in this regard working hard to offer a platform for the general public, professionals and activists to air their views pertaining to socio-economic and political situations (UCLA, 2010). The government representatives are also offered a chance to offer feedback and what they are doing about these issues. UAE in particular ranks at position 27 out of 55 surveyed nations which have highly embraced ICT worldwide. According to Abdullah (2008) freedom of the press status in UAE has not improved over the years but the government is largely to blame as the media has not been let to be independent. The major cause for this is that the government wants to minimize chances of being accountable for its actions. To some extent the UAE citizens are also to blame as they do not lobby for press freedom as they should. People seem to be comfortable with the economic developments and that freedom of the press is not as important. Therefore, the UAE media lacks a strong public backing required to articulately confront the government on pertinent issues. At the end of the day the media houses tend to play it safe with self censorship for self preservation. This in the long run works against free speech in UAE and the citizens are the biggest losers (Abdullah, 2008). Critical opinions with this trend have not been prominent more so in a public platform characterized by a public good in complaining but poor in acting. The government uses its role of protecting the country’s religion and customs to further oppress free expression. Criticizing the political class is taken with huge caution and this can only be done by the super rich who have good connections with the political elite. There is an Arabic saying that suggests that being unfair to all is being fair in some way. The general public has many avenues and opportunities to change this trend but their laxity and government’s relentless efforts to curb any arising opportunity fail them a great deal. The other avenue that is being used hugely is the internet technology. Facebook, twitter and others have provided a platform where individual citizens air their views. These internet sites are facing huge criticism from the government and others even banned e.g. Flickr. Bloggers have found themselves in prison or detained as a result of stating some views that are against the government’s activities. The blogging community has been up in arms with many finding themselves behind bars because of opening up some discussions that seem to give people an avenue to criticize the UAE situation regarding free speech. This has also been the case with its neighbor Bahrain where a blogger, Ali Abdulemam is behind bars without trial (Books, LLC, 2010). Conclusion Free speech is being exercised by the mentally challenged and the fabulously rich citizens in UAE and the Arab World based on the examples stated above. Free speech is said to bring forth the desired change in a society to make it better not worse. We have just seen that proponents of free speech argue that if it is not offered the status quo remains which results in a country dragging behind socially, economically and politically in the fast changing world. The UAE has not had a good record of encouraging free speech although this is the status in the Arab World in general. We can now see that for there to be free speech in UAE the government and the public in conjunction with the civil society need to work hand in hand. References Abdullah, A. (2008). Press freedom in the UAE. Retrieved 17 November 2010, http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/press-freedom-in-the-uae-1.93127 Barendt, E. (2005). Freedom of speech. Oxford University Press: Oxford. UK. Books, LLC (2010). Human rights in the United Arab Emirates: Royal House of Benares. General Books. Chafee, Jr Z. (2010). Freedom of speech. READ BOOKS. UCLA, (2010). Is freedom of speech possible in the Arab World? Retrieved 18 November 2010, http://www. international.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=117511 Read More