Freedom Must Be Demanded

Imagine a world where everyone can express their thoughts freely. Hold on, do you think like we already live in a world like this? If you think this way you are wrong. Freedom of expression is one of the fundamental rights for a human. Because human being always thinks and generate new ideas. This is an undeniable right. But mostly our right is being denied. There are three important things that freedom of expression brings to life. Expressions help thinking and seeing in a different vision. Society needs to be understood and freedom of expression is the way of understanding the society. There are also limits to freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is the key of innovation.

Expressions help considering and seeing in different vision. It makes life different and diverse. People can interpret circumstances in many perspectives. People can express themselves in many ways such as art, social media and sharing information via newspaper, Wikipedia and Twitter. People can more freely share who they truly are, we all learn and become more tolerant. This is the key for a better world.

A person can do something that someone else doesn’t dare do. People can be voices of each other’s. Today, many people use the internet to obtain information. Instead of going to the library and examining encyclopedias, when someone writes ‘Wikipedia’ in the search engine on the internet, they get millions of encyclopaedical information. However, everyone can write content on Wikipedia. So besides being real information, there are content that people create to express themselves. This means that an idea can be easily shared and spread. ‘’According to (Brown), targeted harassment of women online is all too common. One woman decided to create a Wikipedia page for a woman scientist every time it happens to her.’’ Harassment against women is always on the agenda. It happens in daily life and in the media. But when this is on a popular platform like Wikipedia, it attracts attention.

The abused scientist has found an effective solution to this situation. In response to every said sexist mention or solicitation, the woman added to her page the female scientist. After a while, she began to help other scientists because he responded to the problem. So, this person, thanks to Wikipedia, expressed her thoughts and finally became a movement. Another issue is human diversity. There are many identities in a society. But according to the majority, people who have different identities have difficulty expressing themselves. Society pressure and people’s prejudices are the biggest factors in this case. Awareness can be achieved by educating people and by imposing our views on this subject to society.’’

According to (Rutherford), all state schools in Scotland will be supported to teach LGBTI equality and inclusion across different age groups and subjects, according to the Scottish government.’’ With this understanding, the lives of individuals who are discriminated against in school and who are trying to express themselves will be easier. Because there will be people around them who understand them. People will learn new things and share them with each other. It is the greatest solution to teach that identities are not to be judged and to express them clearly. People can unite and defend their thoughts. Another issue that needs to be addressed is the expression of ideas with art. We can think that art is the easiest way of express thoughts and it is more freely. Because everyone’s perspective on art is different.

Everyone has varied ideas about a photograph or a painting. New information can be revealed by discussing different ideas. ‘’According to (BBC), a photographer has won an award for her proposal to document survivors of the Rwanda genocide who are receiving therapy. The photographer believes that society must pay attention to those who suffer, and also to the healing qualities of the attention received in therapy.’’ When a person sees those photos and hears the story, there might occupy some different thoughts or questions on mind. That person tries to understand from the artist’s point of view. This encourages people to think in a different perspective. When considered all things, expressions are different things for each person, and when they are expressed, they create new perspectives. When a thought is wanted to be changed or improved, it is an inevitable way people to express themselves. In this way, innovations are created.

Expressions are a way to create different perspectives, as well as to understand different societies. People who make up the society should not be tried or punished for their statements. It seems like a big problem in today’s world because society has witnessed this issue many times. A society expresses itself through voting, writing and making speeches. Sometimes people’s thoughts are manipulated and afraid of expressing themselves. Making a speech about what you want to express is the easiest way.

So, people who agree come together. But in some countries, this right is still restricted. ’’According to (Nyabola), free speech is increasingly under threat across East Africa. A seemingly innocuous new law on statistics is the latest measure designed to curb free speech in Tanzania.’’ It is untenable to create a new law to prevent people from making speech. A government should understand the nation and evaluate their thoughts. That is the necessity of democracy. People in the world are still being arrested for expressing themselves. Journalists are the mirrors of society. They are our voices. Journalists are arrested without being questioned or allowed to defend themselves when they write an article against the government. ‘’According to (Ahmed), the recent arrest of award-winning photographer Shahidul Alam raised important questions about human rights, freedom of expression and the role urban elite should play in social justice movements in Bangladesh.’’ He expressed himself and was arrested. They tried to silence him because he said all of things on his mind, but those thoughts were against to the government. The people who heard about it supported him and became united. This shows us the importance of freedom of expression. Another way of understanding society is to choose something through voting. It is the duty of every citizen to vote. The person will vote for the person he or she supports and thus will state his opinion. In some cases, people’s votes do not reflect the truth.

Some of the people who follow bad politics benefit from the desperation of the voter. For example, in poor countries, votes are bought for food or the news sources that report the developments are being blocked. ‘’According to (Handley), the government blocked access to independent media websites just hours before polling in the country’s controversial national election begins.’’ In this news, the seriousness of the event can be realized. In short, we are aware of freedom of expression. We’re trying to express ourselves. In some cases, the freedom of expression is seized, but the case cannot be won unless you fight for it.

On the other hand, the freedom of expression of someone do not has to affect someone else. There should be some limits as well as freedom of expression. People have some values and judgments. No individual can be precluded from their rights because of religion, language or race. When a thought is expressed, it should also be paid attention. ‘’According to (Cowen), in an internet-centered intellectual world, what persuades people is reading or hearing a charismatic personality, year in year out, promoting a particular view of the world. A lot of controversial ideas will have to ride that roller coaster, for better or worse.’’ In some cases, people have to stay in a certain context. When thinking is expressed, the results should be estimated. ’’The idea must be expressed correctly and clearly. Here is another example, according to (The Guardian), South African woman jailed in landmark ruling for racist rant. Vicki Momberg sentenced to three years, with one year suspended, for directing offensive slurs at police officer.’’ The police officer wanted to help the white woman, but she refused to do so with racist rhetoric.

The white woman could express her thought in a proper way. This racist rhetoric doesn’t mean she is right. This is sensitive subject. Another sensitive issue is religion. When expressing something about religion, the reaction of people should be predictable. Thoughts about religion can be expressed in many ways. ‘’According to (Telnaes), one year ago, today two masked gunmen entered the Paris offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and gunned down twelve people, including five cartoonists. The murderers claimed they were avenging the prophet Muhammed and by the end of two days of terror, five more people were dead.’’ This news has raised the whole world. The cartoon was a disrespect to the people’s religion. It was so disrespectful that people died in this case. Of course, violence is not a solution to anything, but limits are sometimes good.

In conclusion, expressions have a lot to do with our lives. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. Freedom of expression helps to evaluate events in a different way, it is a way of understanding society’s thoughts and as well as there are some limitations. It increases the diversity of thought. Sometimes people are tried to be silenced because of their testimony. No one can prevent this right. When this right is denied, we must fight to the end because no one is superior to anyone. If we want to innovate, we should be able to express our thoughts freely.

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