#englang#essay Freedom of speech: it is an integral part of our society’s concept of freedom and liberty, and a right that many people do not have the privilege to exercise. Nonetheless, our nations are built on a notion of democracy that is flawed without this freedom, the ability to be able to articulate opinions and thoughts without the fear of being censored or face legal consequences. Time and time again, this right has been used to defend hate speech, and though freedom of speech definitely gives people the right to use hate speech, as it always has done, this does not mean people are exempt from any form of retaliation.
Very frequently when people say that their freedom of speech is being violated, what they actually mean is that they are upset that people do not agree with them. In no way has anyone physically stopped them from saying ludicrous or hateful things, they have just faced retaliation for the harmful messages they are spreading. Such petty individuals seemingly miss the point of the concept: they are allowed to say what they want and let people listen, but what people do when they hear the message is up to the people and the people alone.
In some extreme cases, hate speech will be removed, or in other words, the opinion of the speaker is being censored. This in most cases can be seen as a consequence of the impact of the message, not the idea the message carries itself. Once again, they have fully been able to voice their opinion, and it is not being silenced by some tyrannical regime, but has rather been removed due to active harm that is being caused to others. Does it not make sense that if a message online is hypothetically teaching children how to make explosives that cause property damage, it would be removed and erased? This is simply correct not because it is censoring a message of being able to defend yourself, but because it is hurting landowners and the kids it influences. There is always a line, and though the edges near that line can be blurry, someone has to be able to apply moral judgement to the outcome of messages as to prevent easily preventable actions.
In conclusion, freedom of speech is a wonderful right that should apply to us all, including allowing the use of any kind of speech. This being said, hate speech can and will be removed from certain platforms if it is actively causing harm, an image the platforms would not like to convey, and people are welcome to find other ways to express their opinions. People disagreeing with an opinion is clearly not a violation of your freedom of speech, as encouraged discourse is the whole idea behind the concept, and people of all ages should be free to form their own opinions with all information available to them.