Welcome Grade 12 English Students!
Here's your topic for blogging:
Section 2(b) of the Charter states that "Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:...freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication."
What does freedom of expression mean to you? Use different examples from the film, "We are Legion" to assist in your answer. Your blog should be two paragraphs in length.
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ReplyDeleteWhat is common between a man and a tree? Except the fact that they are both living things, they both have the capability to express themselves just like any other life forms. A tree spurs out of earth, spreading its branches in mesmerizingly intricate geometry, dressing its surface along the way with leaves that itself have unique shapes and come in a wide spectrum of colours. That is in fact how a tree gives cue that it is alive and that is how it expresses it is full of life. A man, being more complex, expresses the symbols of life in much more unique fashion, with his thoughts and ideas but the end result is pretty much the same as the one of a tree or any other life form. Expressing one’s self is how a being shows the vital characteristics of life. Human’s, like all life forms, has the ability to express itself and they do so by sharing thoughts and ideas with each other and with the harbour of life at large. The freedom to express is a crucial part of life. A human could be a very precious being but without the freedom to express itself it is no different from a valuable inanimate object.
ReplyDeleteThe introduction of the Internet almost provided a spinal cord to humans as a whole, bringing them together to form one individual organism called the human race. New ideas and thinking of one could be shared with everyone over the Internet. Sharing ideas and information over the Internet leads to the burst of creativity and causes the expansion of the collective knowledge of mankind. From a broader perspective, it is this ever expanding collective knowledge that increases the chance of survival of the human race in this dynamic world. Ideas and information no longer belong to only a handful of individuals of the society but it has become the intellectual property of the human species as a whole. Having restrictions on sharing information and ideas over the internet diminishes creativity and the expansion of human knowledge, reducing the chance of survival of the human species in the process. Putting a price tag on creativity profoundly limits the ability to express one’s self and obstructs the freedom to express, consequently eliminating the characteristics of a human being. Sharing ideas and thoughts are crucial to have the freedom to express and practicing the freedom of expression is essential to become human.
Freedom of expression, to me, means the right to communicate my ideas to anyone who is willing to receive them. We experience it daily, from simple matters of discussing something in class to bigger, more important matters such as delivering a public speech. Therefore, this right that we have is extremely valuable because we can openly express our thoughts and voice our disagreements. Despite this supposed “right” to freedom of expression, which is recognized in the international human rights law, people in many parts of the world are still denied this “right” because of their ethnicity, gender and even religion. Consequently, groups such as the hacktivist group Anonymous have risen to promote freedom of expression through various forms of hacking attacks and public release of sensitive information. Their motives can be represented accurately by the following statement, “We stand for freedom, we stand for freedom of speech, power of the people, the ability of them to protest against the government, to right wrong, no censorship, especially online but also in real life,” as quoted by an Anonymous protestor.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous’ non-violent approach to promoting freedom of expression has included acts such as using DDoS attacks to overflow the Church of Scientology’s website and Paypal’s website. This non-violent approach leads me to my next point on the limitation to freedom of expression. As with all forms of freedom, freedom of expression allows one to freely express anything they wish up to a certain point. If everyone could express their opinions in any way they desired, conflict would arise. Likewise, if freedom of expression is repressed, peoples’ rights are being taken from them and conflict will arise. In Egypt, the government limited its citizens’ access to various internet sites believing that it conflicted with their intentions. As a result, Anonymous helped dissidents access government-censored websites through the use of DDoS attacks. Ultimately, Anonymous has taken the role of guaranteeing minimal censorship to the internet and countering any acts that deny freedom of expression. To me, freedom of expression is the ability to express your opinions non-violently without causing conflict to arise.