Why free speech?

The right to freedom of expression is often misunderstood, particularly from those that seek to restrict this democratic freedom. It doesn't mean that we support those who offend or that this right validates their words. It doesn't even mean that we value all speech as worthwhile or good. It simply means the following:

1 - There should be NO authority that gets to decide what we say or what we get to hear. Remember what happened to Galileo when he dared to say the Earth wasn't flat? Whether or not a statement is correct, we cannot allow the authorities to prevent that statement from being made.

2 - Exercising the right to free speech in our society encourages us to develop tolerance. Or at least to grow a thicker skin. If everyone is free to say whatever they want, there is no longer any need to go to war or send splinter cells to foreign countries to commit acts of terror.

3 - Free speech REDUCES the probability that the haters go underground. If the Ku Klux Klan marches through the street spouting words of hatred, we know EXACTLY where they are and what they are doing. The haters get some weird sense of satisfaction out of being able to commit such a deplorable act. But no-one gets hurt. I don't mean to claim that freedom of speech ends all violence, but it surely reduces it.

What we say can be unfair, hurtful and obscene. But if we give each other the freedom to say it, perhaps we free ourselves from the need to avenge it. And that is exactly what has happened in the countries that practice free speech.

Free speech is a unifying force.