People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for
freedom of thought,
which they seldom use.
~Soren Kierkegaard~
The twenty-first century is seeing rapid advancements in technology and communication devices. We have emails, social media, news coverage, blogs, phones, video calls, and a myriad of ways to transfer expressions to each other.
As the world gains access to other parts of the planet (and rightfully so, because we are all inhabitants of the same planet), humans begin to question and challenge existing paradigms that were once seen as the “governance” of societies. One side of the world exercises a legal right to free-speech, and the other side is censored by political propaganda.
A tool that bridges the gap is the Internet, a twentieth-century invention that is completely intangible yet dictates a large part of how the world perceives reality. In such, people either conform, question, or create an entirely new paradigm of ‘how’ to live.
Today, we see that many people have taken to the Internet to express impulsive thoughts such as “OMG, look at my selfie”, “Life is good because I’m on a beach”, or contrarily negative messages like “You must die” or “Go to hell”. People use the excuse of “free-speech” to justify expression without forethought of consequence.
“People use the excuse of “free-speech” to justify expression
without forethought of consequence.”
I have personally observed this phenomena in the past decade, among various social media users. This is where the phrase “actions speak louder than words” comes to play. Many users assume that because social media comprises of more words than images, what they seem to have forgotten is that the use of social media is, in itself, an action.
“…the use of social media is, in itself, an action”
It is here where a divide is created. There are human traffickers who use ‘Facebook-owned’ apps to buy-and-sell children by playing with legal loopholes. There are slave traffickers who pose as ‘empowerment opportunists‘ but are really manipulating people into free labour. There are scams posing as ‘Free Universities‘, convincing people to expose their research for low-cost as a means to gather human data.
There are people who misuse the word ‘Holocaust’ to describe personal anguish without consideration of those who truly suffered atrocious deaths in said event.
There are racists who believe that free-speech gives the freedom to deny someone else’s right to humanity based on skin colour. Classists who belittle the uneducated rather than seek to empower. Homophobes who find fake ‘support groups’ to justify their hate rather than overcome it in real-life supportive environments. Religious zealots who believe that free-speech justifies the imposition of personal ideals (which, incidentally, plays out very much like the oppressed politicians and laws they supposedly seek to fight…)
Some countries have more advanced laws to protect general human freedoms, one example is that of GDPR, a principle adopted by various countries within the EU. This law seeks to protect people from personal data theft or the release of confidential information via any means including social media. (click to read more).
Another law that has been enforced is the banning or reporting of abusive content online. Though violators may not necessarily be barred from social media instantly, countries that have adopted the Social Credit system has managed to use reports of abuse to restrict people from cinemas or from some modes of transport. (Click to read more).
Now that the world is evolving and technology is catching up to various types of human-language and nuances, there is inevitably a burst of global conflict as people seek to understand how others speaking the same languages but have contrasting life experiences contextualize certain words. On one hand, the legal sector is severely threatened, especially as international laws are translated across the globe.
Free-speech is knowing that all words / actions have consequences, and that no one is free of this fact.
If your speech or word-choice costs someone else’s humanity such as threatening them to die, use of racial slurs or elevation, gender insults or elevation, religious divide, homophobia, ageist remarks, classist belittlement or elevation, then that free speech is anything but free. (click: United Nations Human Rights.)
Simply put, any human who finds any excuse to measure themselves against another human by using ‘free-speech’ as an excuse is likely suffering from superiority or inferiority complex, therefore there is no point arguing laws and policies with said person. Suggestion, give them a number to a real support group.
Mikavelli
Free-speech is knowing that all words / actions have consequences,
and that no one is free of this fact.
~Mikavelli~
References or Related Articles (click links)
- Sex Cult that Preached ‘Empowerment’ (US)
- Slave market on Instagram and other apps (Kuwait)
- Bogus Universities (US, UK)
- What is GDPR? (EU)
- What is Chinese Social Credit? (China)
- What the West has Mistaken about China’s Social Credit (World)
- Academia is under threat by academics (World)
- U.N. Human Rights (World)
- Superiority Complex (Psychology)
- Inferiority Complex (Psychology)
- Symbols of Perspective (Mikavelli: on Modern Symbolism)
- Being Human (Mikavelli: on Social Construct)
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