A highly contested issue for much of human history is how much freedom should we allocate to our citizens to express themselves. Many governments have often struggled on where to draw a line and for whom to draw a line.
Through allowing the freedom of expression, we create an environment in our society where people are not afraid to speak their minds and share revolutionary ideas that can develop our societies. An open society allows for many people such as political commentators, comedians, and others to have jobs as many in these professions often touch on radical or offensive material which can be used in a good way. As the government is allowing people to speak their mind, this indirectly fosters improved trust between both sides which can help especially in times of crisis such as now. Additionally, free speech ensures that all individual’s voices can be equally heard, which can help to draw social issues to light without fear of repurcussions.
However, counterintuitively, allowing for the freedom of speech can create several problems in society. If anyone is allowed to speak on any subject this could possibly lead to controversial comments being issued which could subsequently cause civil unrest. Many nations have also lamented about how free speech allows radical extremist groups to establish a foothold. A firm that is currently in the spotlight on this issue is Facebook. Until recently, they have struggled to decide whether or not to censor news from radical sources or fake news in general. Implementing censorship, if used appropriately, can ensure all information we see is factual.