scholarly journals Exposing and exposing censorship: Backfire dynamics in freedom-of-speech struggle

2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Curry Jansen ◽  
Brian Martin
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Free Speech ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Freedom Of Speech ◽  
Free Expression ◽  
Human Right ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Right ◽  
Backfire Effect

Censorship can backfire because it is usually viewed as a violation of the right to free expression, which is widely valued as an ideal; under the Charter of the United Nations, freedom of expression is a universal human right. Backfire occurs, for example, when censorious attacks on a film or book cultivate increased demand for the forbidden work rather than restrict access to it. Censors can inhibit this backfire effect in various ways, including covering up the censorship, devaluing the target, reinterpreting the action, using official channels, and using intimidation and bribery. These five methods to inhibit backfire from attacks on free speech are illustrated by a variety of cases, including attacks that backfired and ones that did not. This analysis provides guidance for effectively opposing attacks on free expression.

Against Human Rights

Philosophy ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 65 (253) ◽  
pp. 341-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
John O. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Free Speech ◽  
The Other ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
Human Right ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Right ◽  
United Nations Charter ◽  
The U.S

Let me first explain what I am not attacking in this paper. I am not attacking, for instance, the right of free speech or any of the other specific rights listed in the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights or the United Nations' Charter. I am, rather, attacking any specific right's being called a ‘human right’. I mean to show that any such designation is not only fraudulent but, in case anyone might want to say that there can be noble lies, grossly wicked, amounting indeed to genocide.

scholarly journals The Human Right to Water and Unconventional Energy

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 1858 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Palmer ◽  
Damien Short ◽  
Walter Auch
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Governmental Organization ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Access To Water ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Right

Access to water, in sufficient quantities and of sufficient quality is vital for human health. The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (in General Comment 15, drafted 2002) argued that access to water was a condition for the enjoyment of the right to an adequate standard of living, inextricably related to the right to the highest attainable standard of health, and thus a human right. On 28 July 2010 the United Nations General Assembly declared safe and clean drinking water and sanitation a human right essential to the full enjoyment of life and all other human rights. This paper charts the international legal development of the right to water and its relevance to discussions surrounding the growth of unconventional energy and its heavy reliance on water. We consider key data from the country with arguably the most mature and extensive industry, the USA, and highlight the implications for water usage and water rights. We conclude that, given the weight of testimony of local people from our research, along with data from scientific literature, non-governmental organization (NGO) and other policy reports, that the right to water for residents living near fracking sites is likely to be severely curtailed. Even so, from the data presented here, we argue that the major issue regarding water use is the shifting of the resource from society to industry and the demonstrable lack of supply-side price signal that would demand that the industry reduce or stabilize its water demand per unit of energy produced. Thus, in the US context alone, there is considerable evidence that the human right to water will be seriously undermined by the growth of the unconventional oil and gas industry, and given its spread around the globe this could soon become a global human rights issue.

9. Freedom of Expression

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Clements
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Freedom Of Speech ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Free Expression ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Obscenity Law ◽  
Right Of Privacy ◽  
The Right

The Q&A series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each chapter includes typical questions; diagram problem and essay answer plans, suggested answers, notes of caution, tips on obtaining extra marks, the key debates on each topic and suggestions on further reading. This chapter moves on from the previous one to examine the freedom of expression. Under common law, freedom of speech is guaranteed unless the speaker breaks the law, but this is now reinforced by the right of free expression under the European Convention on Human Rights. The questions here deal with issues such as obscenity law and contempt of court; the Official Secrets Act; freedom of information; breach of confidence and whether there is a right of privacy in English law.

Securing a Human Right to Peace

2016 ◽  
pp. 329-345
Author(s):  
Dale T. Snauwaert
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Global Civil Society ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Human Rights Council ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
United Nations Declaration ◽  
The Right ◽  
Significant Effort

In a groundbreaking session at the United Nations on June 6, 2013 members of civil society and the UN Secretariat opened a very significant inquiry into fundamental questions of the desirability and possibilities of bringing an end to war. Some have posed this query in terms of whether there is a fundamental human right to peace. The United Nations, members of the global civil society, and scholars have engaged in a significant effort to articulate a human right to peace (See, for example, Alston 1980, Roche 2003, Weiss 2010), and the UN Human Rights Council has established an open-ended intergovernmental working group to draft a United Nations declaration on the right to peace (http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/AdvisoryCommittee/Pages/RightToPeace.aspx).This brief essay is intended to launch that same discussion among peace educators.

Freedom of Speech

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Riley
Keyword(s):  
Free Speech ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Type A ◽  
Freedom Of Speech ◽  
Type B ◽  
Public Expression ◽  
Laissez Faire ◽  
The Right

John Stuart Mill is a liberal icon, widely praised in particular for his stirring defense of freedom of speech. A neo-Millian theory of free speech is outlined and contrasted in important respects with what Frederick Schauer calls “the free speech ideology” that surrounds the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and with Schauer’s own “pre-legal” theory of free speech. Mill cannot reasonably be interpreted to defend free speech absolutism if speech is understood broadly to include all expressive conduct. Rather, he is best interpreted as defending an expedient policy of laissez-faire with exceptions, where four types of expression are distinguished, three of which (labeled Types B, C, and D) are public or other-regarding, whereas the fourth (labeled Type A) is private or self-regarding. Types C and D expression are unjust and ought to be suppressed by law and public stigma. They deserve no protection from coercive interference: they are justified exceptions to the policy of letting speakers alone. Consistently with this, a moral right to freedom of speech gives absolute protection to Type B public expression, which is “almost” self-regarding. Type A private expression also receives absolute protection, but it is truly self-regarding conduct and therefore covered by the moral right of absolute self-regarding liberty identified by Mill in On Liberty. There is no need for a distinct right of freedom of expression with respect to self-regarding speech. Strictly speaking, then, an expedient laissez-faire policy for public expression leaves the full protection of freedom of private expression to the right of self-regarding liberty.An important application of the neo-Millian theory relates to an unjust form of hate speech that may be described as group libel. By creating, or threatening to create, a social atmosphere in which a targeted group is forced to live with a maliciously false public identity of criminality or subhumanity, such a group libel creates, or significantly risks creating, social conditions in which all individuals associated with the group must give up their liberties of self-regarding conduct and of Type B expression to avoid conflict with prejudiced and belligerent members of society, even though the libel itself does not directly threaten any assignable individual with harm or accuse him or her of any wrongdoing of his or her own. This Millian perspective bolsters arguments such as those offered by Jeremy Waldron for suppressing group libels. America is an outlier among advanced civil societies with respect to the regulation of such unjust hate speech, and its “free speech ideology” ought to be suitably reformed so that group libels are prevented or punished as immoral and unconstitutional.

International Human Rights Law

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhona K. M. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
The Subject ◽  
International Human ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Right

International Human Rights Law provides a concise introduction for students new to the subject. Clearly written and broad in scope, this popular text gives a concise introduction to international human rights, including regional systems of protection and the key substantive rights. The author skillfully guides you through the complexities of the subject, making it accessible to those with little or no prior legal and/or international knowledge. Key cases and areas of debate are highlighted throughout, and a wealth of references to cases and further readings are provided at the end of each chapter. The book continues to be relied upon by students worldwide as the first book to turn to for clear and accurate coverage. It discusses the United Nations; the United Nations’ organizational structure; regional protection of human rights; Europe; the Americas; Africa; key treaties and mechanisms for monitoring, implementing, and enforcing human rights; substantive rights; equality and non-discrimination; the right to life; freedom from torture; cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment; the rights to liberty of person; equality before the law; the right to a fair trial; the right to self-determination; freedom of expression; the right to work; the right to education and human rights education; minority rights; and group rights.

Arguing the Right to a Safe Climate under the UN Human Rights System

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-212
Author(s):  
Ademola Oluborode Jegede
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Human Right ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Right

Abstract The link between climate change and human rights is being made under the instruments as well as charter and treaty bodies constituting the United Nations (UN) human rights system. Despite the efforts, the right to a safe climate does not exist under the UN human rights system. Based on the vulnerability of human populations and the essential compliance with yardsticks for a new human right, the article argues for the creation of the right to a safe climate and advances two approaches by which it can be achieved under the UN human rights system.

Freedom of Language: A Universal Human Right to Be Recognised

2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
György Andrássy
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Moral Rights ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Civil And Political Rights ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Right

Human rights as legal rights originate from human rights as pre-existing moral rights; however, as pre-existing human rights are unwritten and invisible, it is uncertain whether all of these rights have been recognised and defined properly. This article advances the thought that if there are any human rights at all and if the civil and political rights recognised and defined by the United Nations represent these pre-existing human rights, then there must be at least one more such right, the right of all to freedom of language and, therefore, the United Nations ought to recognise and define this right too.

scholarly journals The Human Right to Internet Access: A Philosophical Defense

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 9-22
Author(s):  
Kay Mathiesen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
Internet Technology ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Human Right ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Right To Communicate ◽  
The Right

The United Nations has suggested that access to the Internet is a human right. In this paper, I defend the U.N.’s position against a number of challenges. First, I show that Vinton Cerf’s recent rejection of the human right to the Internet is based on a misunderstanding of the nature and structure of human rights. Second, I argue that the Internet enables the right to communicate, which is a linchpin right, and, thus, states have a duty to see to it that citizens have access to Internet technology. Third, I argue that concerns that the Internet can be used to engage in oppression and imperialism do not show that there is not a human right to it. Rather, it shows that the right to the Internet must be understood as part of a larger system of human rights.

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