Keywords
Social responsibility theory
The Helsinki effect
Normative theory
How to Cite
Abstract
This paper offers a chronological review of the path free speech had from ancient societies till the contemporary recession. New media technologies created more access to gathering and disseminating information consequently inducing social changes from Guthenberg’s printing press till the Internet era. After the tragedy of WWII, the UN’s institutions defined freedom of speech and expression as individual freedom to articulate and express opinions and ideas without fear of censorship, retaliation, or legal sanction including the content and the means of expression. It is protected by law but is not absolute. Limitations are related to hate speech, libel, slander, etc. The Normative Theories provide a synthesis of ideas that express even conflicting views and are a reliable foundation for understanding the development of free speech and the change it induces in society, media, and culture. Libertarian vs. Authoritarian ideas about free speech raised a debate and provided a compromise between radical freedom of speech and government control of media to prevent possible harm in the form of social responsibility theory.
References
Baran, S. J., & Denis, D. K. (2012). Mass communication theory: Foundations, ferment, and future (6th ed.). Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Bell, M. C. (2020). John Stuart Mill’s harm principle and free speech: Expanding the notion of harm. Utilitas, 32(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095382081900029X
Brett, S. (1999). Limits of tolerance: Freedom of expression and the public debate in Chile. Human Rights Watch.
Cate, F. H. (1996). Law in Cyberspace. Howard Law Journal, 39(2), 565 - 579. Available at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/facpub/592
Crook, T. (2010). Comparative media law and ethics. Routledge.
Dabhoiwala, F. (2022). Inventing free speech: Politics, liberty and print in eighteenth-century England. Past & Present, 257 (Supplement 16), 39–74. https://doi.org/10.1093/pastj/gtac024
Ellis, A. (1956). The penny universities: A history of the coffee-houses. Secker & Warburg.
Gillespie, T. (2018). Custodians of the internet: Platforms, content moderation, and the hidden decisions that shape social media. Yale University Press.
Harris, R. J. (1956). The impact of the Cold War upon civil liberties. The Journal of Politics, 18(1), 3–16. https://doi.org/10.2307/2126673
Howard, J. W. (2024). Freedom of speech. In E. N. Zalta & U. Nodelman (Eds.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Spring 2024 ed.). Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2024/entries/freedom-speech/
Howie, E. (2018). Protecting the human right to freedom of expression in international law. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 20(1), 12–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2018.1392612
McHangama, J. (2022). Free speech: A history from Socrates to social media. Basic Books.
McQuail, D. (1987). Mass communication theory: An introduction (2nd ed.). Sage Publications.
McQuail, D. (2010). McQuail’s mass communication theory. Sage publications.
Parliament UK. (1689). Bill of Rights. https://www.parliament.uk
Perry, M. (1993). An intellectual history of modern Europe. Houghton Mifflin.
Puddephatt, A. (2005). Freedom of expression. In R. K. M. Smith & C. van den Anker (Eds.), The essentials of human rights: Everything you need to know about human rights (pp. 127–130). Hodder Arnold.
Rich, B. M. (1950). Civil liberties in Germany. Political Science Quarterly, 65(1), 68-85.
Sanders, K. (2003). Ethics & journalism. Sage Publications.
Smith, D., & Torres, L. (2006, February 5). Timeline: A history of free speech. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/feb/05/religion.news
Thomas, D. C. (2001). The Helsinki effect: International norms, human rights, and the demise of communism. Princeton University Press.
United Nations. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. available at: https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
United Nations. (1966). International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil- and-political-rights
Williams, E. N. (1960). The eighteenth-century constitution, 1688–1815: Documents and commentary. Cambridge University Press.