How Free Should Speech Be?
<h1>Pretty free speech</h1>
<p>A little over a year ago, on August 12th, 2022, writer Salman Rushdie was stabbed on his way to give a lecture in New York. While the motives of the wannabe killer are not officially known, it doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination to think that this had something to do with the fatwa called on Rushdie for his novel <em>The Satanic Verses </em>(good book, by the way).</p>
<p>He is far from the first person being attacked for a critical stance on religions and/or religious doctrines.</p>
<p>Commenters in the West (what an imperialistic and misguided term) were quick to voice their horror — rightfully so — and pronounce that here, in that fabled (hah) West, we have something called free speech. After all, the UN says so:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”<br />
- United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Do we have such free speech? Do we really?</p>
<p>On the surface of it, yes, we can say anything. In reality, there are things we can’t say. Depending on which country you’re in (even in that mythical West) insulting a monarch can get you in trouble. Not too long ago, insulting the king of the Netherlands could get you 5 years in prison. <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/dutch-parliament-reduces-penalties-for-insulting-king-20180411-p4z8yx.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Don’t worry, they reduced the sentence to 4 months</a>. Or do you deny the Holocaust? You’re in trouble. (<strong>Note: </strong>this is an example; the Holocaust is a black stain on human history that should never be forgotten.)</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/predict/how-free-should-speech-be-f4662e1a6ae7"><strong>Read More</strong></a></p>