Freedom of expression

Freedom of expression is regarded as the freedom to voice out opinions and views freely without censorship. It is often regarded as an integral concept in modern liberal democracies. Through his article on the imprisonment of David Irving for denial of holocaust, Singer believes that freedom of expression is essential in any democracy and that with its absence, human progress will always come to a stand still. Freedom of expression, in his opinion, is for everyone to be allowed to say what they believe to be false, even if many find it offensive.

On the other end of the argument stands Szilagyi, who believes that it is more important to protect the collective interests in society. She suggests that the press should focus more on their responsibility in society, and not solely on freedom as the media do not alone, decide how their messages are interpreted.

Coming back to Singapore, where there is an abundance of cultures and religions, freedom of expression is going on in everyday life. I believe that here, freedom of speech should be allowed to run free within the limitations of the law. It is unavoidable that with the presence of this freedom, many may be offended but in the past, progress was often impeded due to lack of freedom of speech. Such was the case when Galileo tried to prove to the world that the sun was the middle of the solar system, contradicting theories from the Roman Catholic. It seems that progress will always come to a stand still as mentioned by Singer if people are not granted sufficient freedom to break out from what is regarded as "correct".

One may argue that excessive freedom will bring about chaotic occurences but freedom is not without its limits. Free speech is restricted if it was likely to incite imminent lawless action, libel and obscenity.

Szilagyi made a good point where messages from the media may undergo various manipulation and interpretation to serve political agendas thus generating a misusage of freedom of expression. However, if we are to limit ourselves to a fixed content of what can be said and what cannot be misused, the media is considered to be telling us what can be told and not everything that should be told. Therefore, i believe that Singapore should adopt freedom of expression that is not constricted by responsiblity.