In Afghanistan the new political system has achieved success to an extent in different fields in a decade. Among which freedom of speech, though facing some obstacles, has its highest effective and fruitful achievements.
Freedom of speech, which means free flow of idea, is one of the foundations of democracy, the value of the modern world and human rights. It gives the individuals the opportunity to develop their various power and abilities to their highest degree. It lets our ideas take shape and fly. According to article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”(1948).
Accordingly, everyone has the right to flow idea, listen to others, read, and write freely. Briefly, everyone has the right to convey their opinions and share information freely. But the point is that every right is followed by duties and every liberty contains responsibilities; for instance when John Stuart Mill, a British philosopher, political economist and civil servant states every individual has the right of free flow of idea, unless his/her words harm others. This example implies that everyone is responsible for his liberty and right and freedom of expression is not absolute but restricted. So considering the importance of freedom of speech and the restriction upon it, this article analyzes the value of freedom of expression and specifies in which circumstances freedom of expression should be restricted.
John Stuart Mill argues that social and political progress results better and better if individuals have the freedom to develop their attitude and abilities. This argument acknowledges that Personal accomplishment is the development of individuality. Meaning the development of traits, which distinguish individuals from one another, can be possible if individuals have freedom. As a gardener’s most important task is to remove the obstacles in the way of trees’ growth, according to Mill the most important task of communities is that they should provide individuals with opportunities to develop their abilities.
In a society there can be diversities of abilities, traits, and individuals with different talents and according to Mill all men admit mistake, so nobody has the right to ignore others ideas. Freedom of speech helps us to find and to learn the truth. When ideas are put forward and debated on, eventually the truth will emerge. It paves the way for people to go back and look at the opinions and ideas of others. It gives people the freedom to process information, interact with others, and then think about what was said. That is when we take decisions rationally and emotionally, whether to agree or disagree.
Freedom of expression gives us the opportunity to show our reaction about what was said and share our own points of view. We may agree with what is said or go back and analyze the contradictions, misinformation or errors that the writer or speaker has made. When we find errors in the statement of that person, freedom of speech gives us the opportunity to respond and criticize. Consequently, the community members can provide a longer analysis about the issue, and express their own points of view.
This is the definition and importance of freedom of expression, which let us to expand our knowledge about the different thoughts and opinions and as we encounter with different interpretations on a subject we can make the wise decision. However, the opportunity of practicing freedom of speech in a peaceful environment and analytical sphere encounters with barriers from different positions in Afghanistan. For instance freedom of media is one of the critical issues which faces restriction in Afghanistan and this limitation eventually avert people from getting information about the important issues going on in the country.
Individual’s freedom of expression should be restricted when firstly; there are restriction laws in the constitution of each country against the expression of individuals. Meaning if anyone acts against the restriction laws of his/her country’s constitution, his/her expression should be restricted under the law. More importantly, the government should make the people aware of restriction laws against individual’s freedom and tell them about the consequences of that restriction law. Secondly, there should be restriction laws in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights against what a person expresses or commits.
If a person exceeds the Human Rights laws, his/ her action or words should be limited. Thirdly, in a democratic world if government or Human Rights authorities put limitations upon individual’s freedom, there should be logical reasons behind that and those logical reasons and laws should deprive society of chaos and disorders. A person’s freedom of expression should be limited or restricted if he/she exceeds these three elements. Three of these elements should be considered while judging about anyone’s expression. For instance if the legislature of any democratic country defines limitations upon individual’s freedom of expression that those restrictions do not exist in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the accused should not be restricted then.
Mill states “the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent to harm others”. Here comes the question what does harm exactly mean? According to Mill harm means violence and incitement that leads society to disruption and disorders. Along with Mill’s idea, individual’s expression should be restricted if it causes violence and harms public’s moral.
People should be assured of a secure life without chaos and violence under countries constitution and as well as under The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. If anyone by communicating statement in public places, intents to spread hatred against any particular group of people based on their race, religion, ethnicity, and color, where his/her incitement destroys the peaceful atmosphere of the society and hurts others feelings, his/her statement should be restricted and censored.
For example the film “Innocence of Muslims” made by the filmmaker Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a 55-year-old Egyptian Copt and fraudster caused many violence and chaos mostly in Islamic countries. This is evident when the news was released, “An eruption of Muslim anger has spread across the world, taking hold on Monday in Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, protests turned violent for the first time when more than 1,000 people rallied in Kabul, setting police cars and containers ablaze”.
This instance indicates that Nakoula’s act has perpetuated violence. If people argue that under freedom of speech individuals are free to express themselves, they should understand that under the paragraph 3 of article 19 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, freedom of expression has been limited in case it disturbs the common harmony or public orders and causes violence (1966). This evidence implies that Nakoula’s film should be censored. So any act that spreads hatred and violence among people should be restricted both locally and globally.
Some people believe that in a democratic society and environment academic freedom and freedom of speech as an artful communication should not be under restriction. Because since then we have prevented people from creativity and innovation and more importantly it is an assault to democracy. No matter how uncomfortable the idea is, we have to put those ideas into discussion and respectfully criticize them rather than banning them.
However, Thomas Storck, the author of Foundations of a Catholic Political Order, in his article “A Case for Censorship” claims that “Ideas lead to action and bad ideas often lead to bad acts” (23), therefore, the state having the power and right utilizes censorship to avert evils. By preventing this kind of action in fact we have prevented evil action from happening, which can morally harm the society. We have guarded society from moral corruption. So people should raise voice against any kinds of expression that morally corrupts the society, disrupts common harmony, and perpetuates chaos in society. Criticism against the one who causes chaos and immoral activities in society is a norm in freedom of expression.
To sum up, in the world of democracy and technology freedom of expression is right of each individual. People should be given the right to express their ideas and believes. They should be given the space to share information and their points of view about any issue. But if individuals’ freedom of expression causes violence and harm public’s moral, his/her expression should be restricted according to laws that are clearly mentioned in the constitution of each country as well as in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Furthermore, people can raise voice and protest against the accused but this criticism should not mean depriving others of the right to life and should not lead to physical assault and destruction of others’ property. It must be a non-violent protest. Violent protests will not be accepted in any way that violates the rights of others that may be inconsistent with the intent of protesters.
As this article evaluated the importance and value of freedom of speech and the restriction upon it from different views and sides, freedom of speech has been under limitation and restriction in some points in Afghanistan though it has not perpetuated evil action in society. So freedom of speech unless causes violence and harms social harmony should not be restricted in any case. We highly hope from upcoming government to strongly consider the value of freedom of speech so that democracy will be established with all its values.