“Silence”, the
Queen wailed condemning Alice. “Off with her head!” (Carroll 1994) Freedom of
speech, the right to express oneself, and civility has always been in conflict.
Transcending ritual and honour from the Middle-Ages, historically, Britain is a
culture where the deeds of the individual determine the value of life. Dishonourable
actions like defamation, a statement that diminishes an individual, "in the estimation of right-thinking
members of society”, is now punishable by law (Sim v Stretch 1936). Today, the United Kingdom’s modern defamation
laws have been influenced by Germany idealism and Grundgesetz, or the power of
the state to ameliorate itself through legislation (Jones 2012). Why is it that
greater freedoms of speech are made by limiting certain forms of it, and how
does this affect professionals working in the communications industry?
In the United Kingdom, the concept of free speech is derived from Emmanuel Kant’s metaphysical Looking Glass approach to speech t…
In the United Kingdom, the concept of free speech is derived from Emmanuel Kant’s metaphysical Looking Glass approach to speech t…