ISSUE #4 // JUNE 2024
MOMENT OF TRUTH
The Westminster Declaration sounds the alarm over increasing international censorship…
Freedom of Speech Part 2
Authors of The Westminster Declaration1, which warns of increasing international censorship, wrote: ‘we are united by our commitment to universal human rights and freedom of speech, and we are all deeply concerned about attempts to label protected speech as ‘mis-information,’ ‘disinformation,’ and other ill-defined terms.’
The declaration shows how the abuse of such terms has led to the censorship of many journalists and recognised experts across the western-world, adding that ‘such interference with the right to free speech suppresses valid discussion about matters of urgent public interest, and undermines the foundational principles of representative democracy.’
Across the globe, government actors, social media companies, universities, and NGOs (non-governmental organisations) are increasingly working to monitor citizens and rob them of their voices. These large-scale coordinated efforts, sometimes referred to as the ‘Censorship-Industrial Complex’, use a variety of tactics including visibility filtering, labelling, and manipulation of search engine results to control the information people have access to. Through de-platforming and flagging, social media censors have already silenced lawful (and valid) opinions on topics of vital national and geopolitical importance.
Under the guise of preventing harm and protecting truth, speech is being treated as a permitted activity rather than an inalienable right.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
‘If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.’
GEORGE WASHINGTON
To quote the declaration: ‘we recognize that words can sometimes cause offence, but we reject the idea that hurt feelings and discomfort, even if acute, are grounds for censorship. Open discourse is the central pillar of a free society, and is essential for holding governments accountable, empowering vulnerable groups, and reducing the risk of tyranny.’
Speech must not only be protected for opinions which we agree with but also opinions that we strongly oppose. Only in the public square can these views be heard and properly challenged.
The declaration points out that time and time again ‘unpopular opinions and ideas have eventually become conventional wisdom’ adding that ‘Free speech is our best defence against disinformation.’
This attack on free speech is not just about distorted rules and regulations but is also a crisis of humanity itself. ‘In countless examples, including the abolition of slavery and the civil rights movement, social progress has depended on freedom of expression,’ it says. ‘It is only through free speech that we can denounce violations of our rights and fight for new freedoms.’
The declaration also cites Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) ‘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.’
According to the declaration: ‘the right to free speech is the right to information. In a democracy, no one has a monopoly over what is considered to be true. Rather truth must be discovered through dialogue and debate – and we cannot discover truth without allowing for the possibility of error.’
The declaration’s many signatories call upon the general public to ‘join us in the fight to preserve the people’s democratic rights.’
‘We do not want our children to grow up in a world where they live in fear of speaking their minds. We want them to grow up in a world where their ideas can be expressed, explored and debated openly.’
In closing the declaration states that, ‘censorship robs us of the richness of life itself. Free speech is the foundation for creating a life of meaning and a thriving humanity – through art, poetry, drama, story, philosophy, song, and more.’
There are some who suppose that the only way to preserve ‘the truth’ and protect people from ‘mis-information’ is to silence their opposition through accusations, threats and violence. About 2000 years ago Israel’s religious leaders, not liking the following that Jesus had amassed, tried to trap him in his speech so they could accuse and discredit Him. After calling out their hypocrisy Jesus gave them a wise answer and ‘they marvelled, and left him, and went their way’. Then some more leaders came to question Him and he ‘silenced the Sadducees’ with his reply. This is surely the better way to deal with misinformation: let the truth speak for itself.
‘The first to speak in court sounds right— until the cross-examination begins.’
PROVERBS 18:17
FACT OF THE WEEK
Recently a landmark free speech suit was filed in USA federal court called Missouri v. Biden. In early September, a court found that the government ‘engaged in a years-long pressure campaign designed to ensure that the censorship [on social media] aligned with the government’s preferred viewpoints’, resulting in the censoring of constitutionally protected speech of hundreds of thousands of Americans, tens of millions of times.
