Perhaps no other value than free expression has been hailed as the hallmark of a free democratic society. But can freedom of expression go unfettered? Can people say what they like in any circumstance?
Not according to Brian Winston, a veteran journalist and academic, now Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Lincoln, who is presently lecturing communications students at the University of Malta.
Prof. Winston, who has had a professional career as a documentary film maker and has written various books about the media, said in an interview yesterday that freedom of speech, enshrined in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and upheld with varying degrees in different countries, does not automatically give individuals the right to say what they like in any circumstance.
"You cannot cry fire in a theatre full of people unless there is a fire, because people may injure themselves trying to get out," Prof. Winston said.
Historically, the idea of freedom of expression started because people wanted free religious expression, and it was deeply bound to the rise of the individual in the west. It started becoming a political and secular issue in the 17th century.
Free expression, Prof. Winston said, is essential to safeguard other rights but is "less essential" by any material or spiritual measure - a paradox inherent in the concept of free speech.
"In a decent society, people have a right to work, to legal processes and to shelter. All these are fundamental rights. But the right to free expression is not fundamental. I can live perfectly happily in society without having a right to be able to say what I like within the limits of not causing harm."
The problem is that this very right of freedom of expression is crucial to the other ones. "It's all right if you have the right to due process in law for instance, but if the authorities start taking that right, the only way you have to protect that right is if you got the right of free expression," he said.
Another crucial issue, Prof. Winston said, has to do with harm and the balance between allowing free expression and not causing harm.
Nowadays, Prof. Winston pointed out, the big question is to draw the line between free expression - which includes the right to shock and offend - and harm, especially at a time when society has become more sensitive on issues varying from religious beliefs to animal rights.
While societies may place reasonable constraints upon themselves, people's right to free expression should be safeguarded. Prof. Winston thinks that the public debate about freedom of expression, for example in the context of extremist political views, is dangerously simple-minded.
"It is unacceptable that people feel they have a right to control others' speech. Prior constraint would be controlling free speech, and that would run against a couple of centuries ," he said.
Prof. Winston will be speaking on Freedom Of Expression In The Media tomorrow during a public lecture at Villa Parisio, seat of the Strickland Foundation, in Mabel Strickland Street, Lija. The event, which starts at 10.30 a.m., is being held by the Strickland Foundation in conjunction with the Centre for Communication Technology of the University of Malta.