Freedom Of Speech In Central Asian Countries Is Deteriorating
In Central Asia, the pressure on journalists is increasing and freedom of speech is deteriorating, according to experts who participated in CABAR.asia expert meeting on the topic Freedom of Speech in Central Asian Countries: Future Scenario.
Screenshot of CABAR.asia Zoom meeting
In the annual global rankings of press freedom, the Central Asian countries never had high positions. In the 2021 World Press Freedom Index published in April, Kyrgyzstan had the best position 79th place. Kazakhstan ranked 155th, Uzbekistan 157th, Tajikistan 162nd, and Turkmenistan 178th out of 180 countries included in this ranking.
Kyrgyzstan: Pressure on Journalists Increases
Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan earlier was perceived as the only country in the region where journalists felt comfortable since the beginning of 2022, their situation has deteriorated significantly.
Azamat Kasybekov. Personal photo
Media expert and chairman of the Independent Union of Journalists of Kyrgyzstan Azamat Kasybekov spoke about the difficulties in his colleagues work that began during the pandemic and continued with the new government coming to power.
Kasybekov noted that only the unity of the Kyrgyz colleagues helped to free Temirov.
There were many journalists, not only from the independent but also from the state media. One thing united us injustice. Thus, we freed Bolot from the clutches of the security forces, Kasybekov said.
This situation has a negative impact on media development.
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What Does Freedom On The Net Measure
The non-profit research group, Freedom House, published the Freedom on the Net annual report. The report analyzes and ranks the state of internet freedom in 65 participating countries accounting for most internet users around the world.The group assigns points to the countries depending on several factors, like a countrys political climate, ease of internet accessibility, cyber laws, and content restrictions to name a few.
Freedom Of Expression In 165 Countries
The Global State of Democracy Indices is a database, maintained by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, which tracks 116 indicators related to democratic freedom in 165 countries. The GSDI includes eight indicators centered around free expression, including whether the government censors the media, whether the expression of one’s personal culture is repressed, and whether both men and women feel comfortable expressing themselves in public. These metrics are then combined into a single value ranging from a low of 0.00 to a high of 1.00. The top 30 scores from 2020 make up the list below, and the full scoresheet appears in the table further down this page.
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How Mohammed Took African Slaves And Raped Them
The following video starts off by discussing Muhammed Ali and how he was tricked into thinking Islam opposed slavery, video explains how the Koran describes the slaves that were raped by Mohammed, but then covers the specific Koranic descriptions of Mohammeds African slaves.
Remember that in Islam, Muhammed is the perfect Muslim. And nothing he did could be questioned, and everything written about Mohammed is to be lauded by modern Muslims. Any person who does not laud Mohammed is guilty of blaspheming against Islam.
Muslims want this type of speech, and the video above banned. They want it banned not only in Muslim countries, but in non-Muslim countries as well.
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Most Say Their Countries Are Generally Not Dangerous For Walking Around At Night
A median of 35% believe most people live in areas where itâs dangerous to walk around at night. But opinion diverges somewhat across advanced and emerging economies. In advanced economies, a median of only 30% say most people live in areas where it is dangerous to walk around at night, compared with a median of 45% across the nine emerging economies surveyed.
Around six-in-ten or more in Greece, Tunisia, South Africa, Nigeria and Argentina describe their country as one in which most people live in areas where it is dangerous to walk around at night, including roughly half or more in Tunisia and South Africa who say this describes their country very well. But, across most European, Asia-Pacific and North American countries surveyed, people largely agree this statement does not describe their country well.
There are also marked differences in peopleâs assessments based on income levels. In four emerging economies â India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico â those with higher incomes are more likely than those with lower incomes to describe their country as one in which most people live in areas where it is dangerous to walk around at night. In India, though, those with lower incomes are also less likely to answer the question.
In eight countries, women are more likely than men to describe their country as one in which it is dangerous to walk around at night. In South Korea, for example, women are 12 percentage points more likely than men to express this opinion.
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Why Is Freedom Of Speech Important In A Democracy Why Is It A Core Principle
Democracys goal is to have a plural and tolerant society. For this to happen successfully, citizens should be able to speak freely and openly about how they would like to be governed and criticize those who are in power.
This exchange of ideas and opinions isnt just a once off on election day, rather it is an on-going two-way communication which happens throughout a governments term.
America Has A Free Speech Problem
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The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstandingvalues. It is separate from the newsroom.
For all the tolerance and enlightenment that modern society claims, Americans are losing hold of a fundamental right as citizens of a free country: the right to speak their minds and voice their opinions in public without fear of being shamed or shunned.
This social silencing, this depluralizing of America, has been evident for years, but dealing with it stirs yet more fear. It feels like a third rail, dangerous. For a strong nation and open society, that is dangerous.
How has this happened? In large part, its because the political left and the right are caught in a destructive loop of condemnation and recrimination around cancel culture. Many on the left refuse to acknowledge that cancel culture exists at all, believing that those who complain about it are offering cover for bigots to peddle hate speech. Many on the right, for all their braying about cancel culture, have embraced an even more extreme version of censoriousness as a bulwark against a rapidly changing society, with laws that would ban books, stifle teachers and discourage open discussion in classrooms.
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Can The School Library Refuse To Stock Certain Books
This is a very complicated issue. Schools certainly have the right to pick the books they think have the greatest value for their students and to reject those that they believe have little value. On the other hand, if the school refuses to stock a book for “narrowly partisan or political,” reasons – i.e., they just don’t agree with the authors’ viewpoints – that’s censorship and censorship is unconstitutional. In a 1982 case called Island Trees v. Pico, the Supreme Court ruled that school boards can’t remove books from a school library just because they don’t agree with their content. But in many communities around the country, school administrators and librarians are under heavy pressure from religious and other groups to censor what we read and study.
If you believe that your school is censoring books because of their viewpoints, you, your teachers and the school librarian can challenge book censorship at your school or in court. The freedom to read is the freedom to think – and that’s totally worth fighting for!
It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech . . . at the schoolhouse gates.” –U.S. Supreme Court, Tinker v. Des Moines
We spend a big part of our life in school, so let’s speak up! Join the student government! Attend school meetings! Petition your school administration! Talk about your rights with your friends! Don’t forget, we are the future!
Least Digital Freedom: #1 China
- Total score : 10
- Obstacles to access score : 8
- Limits on content score : 2
- Violations of user rights score : 0
For the seventh consecutive year, China has been deemed the most digitally oppressive country in the world. Censorship, not access, is the countrys ruling Communist Partys primary means of maintaining control. China possesses and exercises the ability to shut down internet access for entire provinces, as well as for specific people if dissension is suspected. Government and self-censorship is standard practice. The governments response to communication about COVID-19between its own citizens as well as with international playerswas especially restrictive. More than 2,000 keywords related to the virus were censored on social media platforms at the onset of the pandemic, affecting tens of millions of posts.
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What Can Be Done To Improve Personal Freedoms
Much like the problems affecting personal freedoms are complicated, the solution most likely is too. Unfortunately, in countries where economic insecurity and corruption are felt on the most acute of levels, there are often populations of people whose basic human needs are not being met. In these cases, it can be difficult to resolve issues such as freedom of the press or bribery that, while important, can be minimized by other major issues faced by the country in question, such as war. However, it is possible for countries who are experiencing a low degree of personal freedoms right now to gradually turn around over time.
The Court Of Justice Of The European Union Limits Free Speech
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“This judgment has major implications for online freedom of expression around the world…. The ruling also means that a court in one EU member state will be able to order the removal of social media posts in other countries, even if they are not considered unlawful there. This would set a dangerous precedent where the courts of one country can control what internet users in another country can see. This could be open to abuse, particularly by regimes with weak human rights records.” Thomas Hughes, executive director of ARTICLE 19, a non-profit organization that works on “protecting the right to freedom of expression around the world,” October 3, 2019.
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The judgment from the Court of Justice of the European Union… appears to give EU member states unprecedented power to determine public discourse online — to determine what citizens can and cannot read…. he prospects now look even bleaker for the future of free speech in Europe.
A recent judgment from the Court of Justice of the European Union appears to give EU member states unprecedented power to determine public discourse online — to determine what citizens can and cannot read. Pictured: The Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg.
On October 3, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in a judgment that Facebook can be ordered by national courts of EU member states to remove defamatory material worldwide:
According to ARTICLE 19:
- Follow Judith Bergman on
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Do I Have A Right To Express My Opinions And Beliefs In School
Yes. In 1969 in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District the Supreme Court held that students in public schools – which are run by the government – do not leave their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate. This means that you can express your opinions orally and in writing – in leaflets or on buttons, armbands or T-shirts.
You have a right to express your opinions as long as you do so in a way that doesn’t “materially and substantially” disrupt classes or other school activities. If you hold a protest on the school steps and block the entrance to the building, school officials can stop you. They can probably also stop you from using language that they think is “vulgar or indecent,” so watch out for the dirty words, OK?
Also, school officials may not censor only one side of a controversy. If they permit an article in the official school paper that says that premarital sex is bad, they may not censor an article that says premarital sex is good.
Freedom Of Speech In France And America
Earlier this summer, we partnered with The Cultural Services of the French Embassy on a pair of programs comparing the freedoms of religion and speech in France and in the United States, and how those freedoms are protected in the two countries. In this program, a panel of experts from both countries explores how freedom of speech and press as guaranteed by the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen differs from freedom of speech and press in America under the First Amendment of the Constitutionas well as how laws and courts in both countries protect those rights and address issues over controversial speech. National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen was joined by Marc-Olivier Bherer, staff editor and reporter for the French daily Le Monde and Nieman Fellow at Harvard in the 2021 class Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America and author of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All Geoffrey Stone, professor at the University of Chicago Law School and Hélène Tigroudja, law professor at Aix-Marseille University in France and a member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
This panel was streamed live on June 1, 2021.
Check out another program from our partnership with the French embassy, Religious Liberty in France and America, and more programs on free speech in our Media Library at constitutioncenter.org/constitution.
PODCAST
Or, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
PARTICIPANTS
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TRANSCRIPT
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Some Democracies Are More Nominal Than Others
- Some of the highest-rated countries are what you might expect: in North America and northern Europe . Also on that list: Spain and Japan. Surprising inclusions: Venezuela and Hungary, two countries not recently noted for the fair and balanced nature of their public discourse.
- Countries with medium interest in free speech are scattered across Latin America , continental Europe , the Middle East , Africa , and the Asia-Pacific region .
- Interestingly, all the countries on the red list, professing the least interest in free speech, are nominal democracies, although some are more nominal than others. They include countries in Europe , the Middle East , Africa , and Asia-Pacific .
Global variation in the Justitia Free Speech Index. Maximum score: 100.: Justitia
When Isnt Speech Protected
Not all speech is protected under the First Amendment.
Forms of speech that arent protected include:
- Plagiarism of copyrighted material
Speech inciting illegal actions or soliciting others to commit crimes arent protected under the First Amendment, either.
The Supreme Court decided a series of cases in 1919 that helped to define the limitations of free speech. Congress passed the Espionage Act of 1917, shortly after the United States entered into World War I. The law prohibited interference in military operations or recruitment.
Socialist Party activist Charles Schenck was arrested under the Espionage Act after he distributed fliers urging young men to dodge the draft. The Supreme Court upheld his conviction by creating the clear and present danger standard, explaining when the government is allowed to limit free speech. In this case, they viewed draft resistant as dangerous to national security.
American labor leader and Socialist Party activist Eugene Debs also was arrested under the Espionage Act after giving a speech in 1918 encouraging others not to join the military. Debs argued that he was exercising his right to free speech and that the Espionage Act of 1917 was unconstitutional. In Debs v. United States the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Espionage Act.
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Most Believe Their Right To Free Speech Is Protected
A 27-country median of 62% say their country protects freedom of expression. This sense is somewhat more prevalent in advanced than emerging economies .
Across the North American and European nations surveyed, around half or more in most countries say their nation is one in which people can express their views in public. The sense that freedom of speech is protected is also widespread in the two Middle Eastern countries surveyed, as well as across the Asia-Pacific region. But, across the 27 nations, few say this describes their country very well.
Only in Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Italy and Mexico do about half or more say this statement does not describe their country well. In Brazil, roughly four-in-ten say this does not describe their country well at all.
Across most European countries surveyed, those who have favorable opinions of populist parties are significantly less likely to feel their country is one in which freedom of expression is protected. Take Sweden as an example: Those who have a favorable opinion of the Sweden Democrats are 30 percentage points less likely to think free speech is protected in their country than those who do not favor this party.
Do I Have To Say The Pledge Of Allegiance
No. The Supreme Court has held that it is just as much a violation of your First Amendment rights for the government to make you say something you don’t want to say as it is for the government to prevent you from saying what you do want to say. You have a right to remain silently seated during the pledge.
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