Freedom of Speech and Expression: Legal, Theoretical, and Cultural Review

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.