Abstract
‘Freedom of expression is the right to think out loud.’
Sultan al Qassemi, blogger and commentator, United Arab Emirates
‘I love a quote from a friend: freedom of expression is the belief in the right of others to say things that you don’t want to hear.’
Wael Ghonim, activist and computer engineer, Egypt
‘Free expression is absolutely fundamental and never before have the opportunities been greater. In today’s world of interconnectivity, new technologies place the power of expression in the hands of all of us and enable us to spread information instantly. The world community, through the UN Human Rights Council, has agreed that the right to free expression also applies online. At the same time, there are still many people who face great risks for making their voices heard. Our common goal must be to make sure that people can use the internet safely, that the networks are accessible and that they remain open and free from censorship. We must never accept that the internet’s content should be limited or manipulated depending on the flavour-of-the-month of political leaders. The time is gone when regimes could act in the dark with the rest of the world remaining clueless. We should celebrate this and work to continue to keep it that way.’
Carl Bildt, Swedish Foreign Minister
‘Freedom of expression is actually a way for people to know themselves better. And to understand themselves better. So without it, you become a stranger to yourself.’
Lucien Bourjeily, filmmaker and theatre director, recognised for his innovative theatre work in Lebanon
‘Freedom of expression, the right to give your dissenting view and hold the powerful to account, is a precious and fundamental right. Europe should be proud to be the world’s wellspring of freedom: to show the world the vibrant society that prospers under liberty, tolerance, and democracy. The battle to secure these rights for our citizens has not always been easy: we should treasure them, but not take them for granted. Within Europe, we must constantly remember them, commit to them, and support each other to maintain them. Because, outside Europe, we see how high the cost can be when those freedoms are repressed, from Syria to Azerbaijan. New digital technology offers new hope: a way to communicate dissent, organise action, and effect democratic change. I am determined to protect freedom online, determined to defend media freedom and pluralism, and determined to support activists who struggle for democracy.’
Neelie Kroes, Dutch politician
‘Freedom of expression is an idea that must not be viewed merely as a productive thing in isolation but actually a relationship to many things in the ecosystem of our lives.
What is free expression? It is a thing that a person does when they live a free life, when they are free from surveillance and censorship and other forms of interference in their daily lives. Where they’re not just free from suspicion by default but where they’re free to think any thought, to say any words or phrases and to be able to read anything without any exception at all. To be able to freely associate, to be innocent until proven guilty in some way and to have basic human rights as defined in the United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights, where there is no exception to these things, to our autonomy. That does not mean we will not be held accountable for what we freely express, because freedom of expression is not free.’
Jacob Appelbaum, developer and advocate for the Tor Project, a program that enables anonymity online
Visit indexoncensorship.org for more on ‘What free speech means…’