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Freedom of expression

Singer believes that freedom of expression is essential to any democracy and therefore should not be limited. On the other hand, Szilagyi believes that more focus should be placed on social responsibility. In the context of Singapore’s multi-racial society, where there is cultural and religious pluralism, which author’s view do you think should be adopted?

As quoted from Singer, “freedom of speech is essential to democratic regimes, and it must include the freedom to say what everyone else believes to be false, and even what many people find offensive”. I disagree with that. Though freedom of speech may be essential to democratic regimes and should be encouraged, it should come along with some restrictions. It should not include the freedom to say what many people find offensive. Being democratic does not mean that it should not be damaging the social stability of the regime. Instead, one should be more sensitive and try to put oneself in other people’s shoes. I agree with Szilagyi that it is not possible to ensure the freedom of expression of all its citizens and protecting the collective interests of society. In my opinion, I think it is more essential to protect the collective interest of the society. We should not let those individual judgements affect the overall welfare of the society.

It is more important for the people or media to take on social responsibility especially in countries which are sensitive to racial issues. An example will be Singapore. Singapore is a multi-racial and religious country which has been placing great emphasis on promoting racial harmony. Though we promote democracy and the media is able to act on freedom of expression, but the media should not be discussing about racial issues like addressing media messages to a specific racial or culture group. Different racial groups will be offended if we are to comment on their religion which they believe in and hold dearly to themselves. Social and political tensions can be inflamed through the transfer of messages. Singapore has been putting in much effort to prevent such possibilities. Everyone has the responsibility to maintain social stability instead of creating possible conflicts. Hence, we should not be undermining the racial peace we have been trying to maintain.

posted by Si Hui @ 11:54 AM