The concept of “freedom of speech and expression” embodies the fundamental right of individuals to articulate their thoughts, opinions, and ideas without fear of censorship or restraint by the government or other authorities. It encompasses the liberty to express oneself through various mediums, such as speech, writing, art, and symbolic actions. This fundamental right is essential for the functioning of a democratic society, as it enables the exchange of diverse viewpoints, fosters intellectual growth, and promotes social progress.
Tag: Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.
Decoding the Question:
- In the Introduction, try to define freedom of expression and how this is guaranteed in Indian Constitution.
- In Body,
- Write the concept of Freedom of speech and expression and mention hate speech.
- Discuss how the films in India stand on a slightly different plane from other forms of expression.
- In Conclusion, try to write about the overall importance of Freedom of speech and expression.
Answer:
Freedom of speech and expression is the right to express one’s own opinion and to communicate ideas, thoughts, and emotions without fear of censorship or retaliation. The right to freedom of speech and expression is guaranteed to all citizens of India by the Constitution of India under Article 19(1)(a). This right is given to citizens of India so that they can freely express their opinion, views, beliefs, and thoughts without fear of government or any other form of censorship.
The Concept of Freedom of Speech and Expression:
- Right to propagate one’s own view and views of others.
- Freedom of the press.
- Freedom of commercial advertisements.
- Right against tapping of telephonic conversation.
- Right to telecast (the government has no monopoly on electronic media).
- Right against bandh called by a political party or organization.
- Right to know about government activities.
- Freedom of silence.
- Right against the imposition of pre-censorship on a newspaper.
- Right to demonstration or picketing but no right to strike.
Article 19 (2) in the Indian constitution gives us the freedom of speech and expression with some reasonable restrictions under as follows: It should not affect the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offense.
Hate speech: It generally refers to words whose intent is to create hatred towards a particular group; that group may be a religion, community, or race. This speech may or may not have meaning but is likely to result in violence.
- 267th Report of the Law Commission of India, defined hate speech as an incitement to hatred primarily against a group of persons defined in terms of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious belief and the like.
Hate speech has not been defined in any law in India. The following legislations have a bearing on hate speech:
- The Indian Penal Code, 1860: Hate speech provisions are found in three different chapters of the IPC.
- Section 295A, IPC was enacted to specifically target speech that intended to outrage religious feelings by insulting religion or religious belief.
- The Representation of The People Act, 1951: Disqualifies a person from contesting election if he is convicted for indulging in acts amounting to the illegitimate use of freedom of speech and expression.
- The Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955: Penalizes incitement to and encouragement of untouchability through words, either spoken or written or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise.
The films in India stand on a slightly different plane from other forms of expression: Films in India stand on a slightly different plane from other forms of expression because they have the potential to influence a large number of people. Because of this, the Government of India has imposed certain restrictions on the content of films to ensure that they do not promote violence, hatred, or any other illegal activities. Additionally, films are also subject to censorship to ensure that they adhere to the standards of morality and decency. Generally, films are banned for six reasons:
- Movies which supposedly depict the country in a bad light. BBC’s documentary India’s Daughter (2015), which contains interviews with the alleged rapists of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim, was banned in India because it records certain views of the rapists, which show the country in a poor light.
- Movies that portray the life of Indian political leaders, but in an unfavorable manner, such as Aandhi (1975) and Kissa Kursi Ka (1977).
- Movies like Parzania that depict communal violence are likely to be banned. Such movies are deemed to arouse the passion of the people that can lead to problems of public order.
- Movies which ‘hurt’ the religious sentiments of the people such as The Da Vinci Code (2006), which was banned in five States in India as it ‘hurt’ the sentiments of the Christian community.
- Movies are censored on the ground of obscenity. Mira Nair’s Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996) dealt with a story of four lovers in 16th century India. The Censor Board found the movie “too explicit”, “unethical” and “immoral”.
- Films which deal with tabooed subjects like lesbianism, and transsexuality, i.e., Fire (1996) and Gulabi Aaina.
The freedom of speech and expression, is an important fundamental right, scope of which has been widened to include freedom of press, right to information including commercial information, right to silence, and right to criticize. However, subjective to reasonable restrictions on the ground of public order or obscenity, at times, might be justified. But extra-constitutional bans restrict the free flow of thoughts, imagination, and creativity. Such bans are thus against the constitutional philosophy, against the rule of law, against democracy, and against our national interest.
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