Freedom of expression

Freedom of expression is a human right. The meaning of this expression is the right to express our ideas and opinions without any type of censorship. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted on 10 December 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly) recognizes this right and is also recognized in the laws of the majority of countries.

R. Hinman, freedom of expression is your right, CC BY

This right isn’t complete because there are limits which are obvious. There are many limits, among others, these are the most common: we can’t damage any person or organization by lies, we can’t publish anything which violates privacy, we can’t assault against the rights of copyright, we can’t incite the violence or use offensive words.

The beginning of this term was in the Ancient Greece, because they already had the necessity to express their ideas in written form. The first person who is famous because he supported this term is Homer the Greek epic poet who was born between the 12th and 8th century BC.

At present the biggest enemy of this term are the regimes which aren’t democratic like totalitarianism or dictatorship.

Wikipedia contributors, ‘Freedom of speech – Wikipedia’. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech. [Accessed: 02-Nov-2016].

BusinessDictionary, ‘What is freedom of expression? definition and meaning – BusinessDictionary.com’. [Online]. Available: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/freedom-of-expression.html. [Accessed: 02-Nov-2016].

Eric Chenoweth, ‘Freedom of Expression: History | Democracy Web’. [Online]. Available: http://democracyweb.org/node/78. [Accessed: 23-Nov-2016].

Say Media, Inc., ‘Homer – Poet – Biography.com’. [Online]. Available: http://www.biography.com/people/homer-9342775#legacy. [Accessed: 23-Nov-2016].

Rachel Hinman, ‘freedom of expression is your right | Rachel Hinman | Flickr’. [Online]. Available: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rhinman/3757974502. [Accessed: 30-Nov-2016].

Wikipedia Contributors, ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights – Wikipedia’. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights. [Accessed: 30-Nov-2016].