Writing Assignment help on : Freedom of speech and freedom of the press
Introduction
Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are two things that state the level of democracy that the people in the country is having. If the people and the media in the country aren’t able to express their thoughts then the country cannot be said to be a democratic one. There are hardly few countries in the world which allows complete freedom to the people to speak what they feel and they think. In many countries, the media are suppressed from releasing the news that they have. The government of the country refines the news as they want only the required and intended information to reach the common man in the country.
The freedom of speech and press is different in different countries. Australia is one country which haven’t signed bill of rights and hence, the people in the country isn’t given complete freedom to speak and at the same time, the media isn’t given the rights to cover the things that are happening in the country. Canada has given freedom of speech as well as press but the government of the country really wants things to be in control because in the past, it was noticed that the minorities in the country was harassed a lot. USA is one country which has been an example for all the other countries in the world. Every country wants to achieve freedom of speech and press, as in the USA.
Freedom of speech
Every person in the democratic country should be given an opportunity to express his thoughts but that is not the actual situation in many countries. Few countries have things written but the practicality is something different. Talking about Australia, it can be said that Australia Capital territory states that every person has the freedom to express their thoughts in writing, oral, art or any other form that they think may be suitable but yes, this law has an ‘if’ attached to it. The law also states that the government of Australia has all the rights to interfere when they think that the expression opinion is hurting the respect of other people or it is causing damage to the security of the nation or public order. There are many incidents in Australia wherein a film is banned because it disturbs the sentiments of some religious group or some art is stopped from being published in the name of obscenity. Some years back, the term obscene was used to describe pictures and art that depicted vulgarity. The term obscene has also broadened with time. Decades ago, nudity in movies and art was a complete ‘no’ but now that is being accepted in the society. Basically, obscenity came into the picture so that it can safeguard the interests of a certain group. Kids cannot watch movies that show vulgarity but at the same time, many adults enjoy that so they can’t or they shouldn’t be stopped too. Now, the term has been broadened to offensive. The restrictions of potentially vulgar picture are stopped because there are possibilities that it can hurt the sentiments of some people. Major problem is faced by the art galleries in the country because they need to show the kind of arts that they will be displaying in the gallery before they get approval for the same. One major problem with the approval of the art gallery is that the laws and regulations for approval are done by way of informal communication and hence, the common public isn’t aware about the grounds of approval. Many a times, it happens that the certain work from the gallery is asked to be removed, certain work is replaced with the new work or the exhibition which was going to be held is postponed.
These things actually express that the freedom of speech isn’t 100% in Australia. Many people want all the things to be open in public but the government is not willing to do so (Simpson, P, 2010).
Canada can be considered be better than that of Australia but yes, there are certain things which can be improved and certain things are already the best. Freedom of speech is given a lot of importance in Canada. The government strongly believes that every citizen of Canada has the right to communicate about his beliefs, expressions, opinions and thoughts in public. Apart from that, the government of Canada has given the rights to the people over there to watch and believe in things that they like. The common man in the country believes that they aren’t completely free to talk about things that they believe in. The government of Canada strongly believes that there needs to be a limitation for everything that is being done. In the 1990’s, it was noticed that on the beaches, posters were put which said dogs and Jews aren’t allowed but later, the common people also understood that doing such a thing is going to disturb the social peace. If the social peace in the country is disturbed then the minorities of the country will be affected the most. Recently few years back, anti-gays rally was seen at all possible places in Canada but then the government of the country took control over it. The government strongly believes that it is their sole responsibility to protect the Canadians as well as the minorities in the country. If the minorities in the country are hurt then this will ultimately lead disturbance in the relationship that the common people share among themselves and hence, both of them will try to hurt each other. Hurting each other will not lead to anywhere and in fact, the growth of the country will be stopped (ConstitutionalLawOfCanada, 2002).
Many people in the country are fighting against the government so that they can get complete freedom of speech but the government is totally against it. The government also believes that if they support freedom of speech in certain places then this will become a problem and hence, the people will start with discrimination on the grounds of religion, caste, sexual orientation and citizenship. The term ‘reasonable’ is being given due importance and hence, they government supports the people only in things that they assume to be reasonable. Currently, in Canada, there are so many hate sites but the government hasn’t shut down on it but at the same time, they don’t support protests that happen in physical (Gillis, 2012).
While talking about freedom of speech, no one can even imagine missing the USA because of the freedom of speech that it offers to its citizens. In the starting, the USA amendments clearly stated that freedom of speech shouldn’t have any conditions attached to it but that was slowly changed as they noticed restlessness in the environment. USA government is very clear with the definition of freedom of speech so that there isn’t any confusion among the people. Freedom of speech includes things like that not speaking, not saluting the national flag, the students can wear a black band on their arms if they have a problem with the school’s management and at the same time, the common man can use offensive words when they are trying to convey a message against the political system of the country. It also clearly states that making obscene pictures and distributing it, writing against the school’s management in the school magazine itself or hitting someone in public isn’t included in freedom of speech (UnitedStatesCourts).
Lately, many scholars have stated that the freedom of speech doesn’t have any restrictions in the USA and hence, this is causing a danger to the public security. It is noticed that people bad mouth about Muslims in public thus, it hurts the sentiments of Muslims and hence, the Muslims are trying to hurt the USA as a whole (Wang).
It is also noticed in the country that complete freedom to the people is given and hence, people speak anything that they think and the government of the country is completely negligent about it. Minorities in the country state that the government is willing to protect the interests of minorities but they are not working much on it. People in the country are used to speaking things in public and changing that seems to be a difficult thing for the government of the country as well.
Freedom of Press
Freedom of press is very important so that the common man is aware about the things that are happening in the surrounding. The media of many countries is regulated by the government thus, refining the news that reaches the common man. Freedom of press is well utilized by the media companies in Australia. Australia positions itself as a country which gives complete freedom of press to the press reporters and newspapers in the country. Australia also clearly states that the press can cover all the news that they think will protect the interest of the people. It is the responsibility of the press to cover all the news that affects the lives of people in the country. The press and newspaper companies in Australia need not take a license from the government for setting up a news reporting company. This gives them more space to cover news that they think are important and will make a change in the life of the common man (AustralianPressCouncil, 2011).
Australia law also states that the media can collect and distribute the news in all possible ways. The law which stops the media from collecting and distributing the news is unacceptable until and unless it is in the public interest. This clause stops Australian media from reaching the news source effectively. Apart from that, the reporters in the country are forced to disclose the source from where the news is gathered and hence, many don’t prefer to share the news with the media. Australia is one of the countries which haven’t signed the bill of rights. This makes life difficult for media sources (Nash).
Australian government gives freedom to the media with one of its laws and at the same time, it stops the media from performing its responsibilities with another law. Ultimately, the required news doesn’t reach the people in the country thus, leaving them blank to trust the things that the politicians speak. Canada is also not behind in terms of freedom of press. The reporters in Canada are given complete right to show their findings to people. Freedom of Press in Canada is considered to be one of the basic freedoms that every person in the country has. At the same time, the country also has certain laws which restrict the reporters to act freely and this hurt the sentiments of common people in the country (DepartmentOfJusticeCanada 2012).
The people in Canada believe that if a country has to move ahead then they are left with no option but to allow the press in the country to act freely. The government of Canada strongly supports the media reporters but at the same time, they also protect the security of common people in the country and the government expects the media also to act accordingly. If a media reporter questions the politician then the politician will answer them for sure and it also allows all the reporters to question the government. In fact, any reporter in the country can question can any politician in the country but if the government isn’t disclosing any specific thing for safeguarding a secret then they can’t be forced to express. Canada gives freedom to the press but not at the cost of the country’s safety (McKeon, 2011).
In the USA, all the reporters are free to cover anything that they come across, USA government clearly states that the media reporters are completely free to cover all the things that they think are important for the people to know. The government believes that complete freedom of press is the only way by which the people in the country can be made aware about the prevailing situation. The press also educates and connects people from one part of the country with that of people from another part. The government also stops distribution of information by media on certain matters so that the parties associated with the news can be free. A child pornography or obscenity cannot be a part of the media as it cannot be viewed by a child, thus, such things are strictly restricted by the government.
The government of the USA has the rights to decide whether a particular news or program in the media can use the funds of federal bank. This is not because they want to stop the news or content of the show from reaching the common man but because they don’t find reasons to fund the particular news or program (Cohen, 2006).
USA’s position in a free press is currently 47th and this has hurt the common people’s sentiment. Recently, many media reporters were arrested and this is one of the reasons due to which the position of free press in the USA is moved back (Connolly, 2012).
Comparison of Australia, Canada and USA
Freedom of Speech
Australia doesn’t permit freedom of speech. The rules clearly states that all the people can speak their mind out but there are too many restrictions thus, stopping people from having a free communication. Canada can be said to have a balanced freedom of speech as the Canadian government expects people to think about what they are going to speak before they say. There are restrictions which stop people from communicating their mind but this has been an advantage to the betterment of country. USA had a complete freedom of speech to speak their mind out but that is changing now slowly. The change is for the betterment of the country because even today, in a developed country like USA, minorities aren’t safe.
Australia also stops freedom of expression and hence, people who are willing to set up art gallery need to show sample paintings that will be displayed in the art gallery. The rules and regulations for setting up an art gallery are not known to common man. The negotiation is done by the politician and the art gallery owner in private. Some years back, the minorities in Canada were very scared about their security but today, they are happy and safe. This security feeling is due to the restriction of speech that has been followed by the government of the country. People from different part of the world prefer to relocate anywhere but not USA because they are scared about the freedom of speech that prevails. The rules for freedom of speech have changed but the implementation of the same is still a question.
Freedom of press
Just like the freedom of speech, the freedom of press also in Australia, is stopped with certain laws. Canada gives freedom to press but again they also reserve the right of protecting important information with them so that the people in the country are safe. USA had given complete freedom to the press till sometime back but things have changed because the government has seen many ill-effects of the same.
The law in Australia states the media will have to safeguard the interest of common people and hence, they cannot publish all the things that they want. There are strict rules to disclose the source thus, making it impossible for the reporters to show all the news. But that is not the case in Canada as all the politicians in the country are bound to answer their questions but at the same time, the media cannot question them on things that can harm the security of the country. The freedom of press is changing USA as the government of USA wants the media to stop capturing all the news as that is becoming a threat to the whole country.
Conclusion
Australia can be said at number 3 while talking about freedom of speech and press, that is, after Canada and USA. This country needs to improve so that the lives of people in the country can be improved. USA can be said to be at number 2 because they had given complete freedom of speech and press but that is proving to be really injurious to the nation and now, the country isn’t able to stop it completely. Canada can be said to be the best among all the three countries because it just asks its common people to act with common sense so that everybody in the country is safe.
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