Essay on Freedom of Speech (Doc)

ESSAY

Freedom of speech is usually a right given to individuals from the very constitution of a
democratic nation. In a democracy, it is of paramount importance to make sure that rights of
general people to communicate freely among each other is not taken away from them. Australia
is country which was ruled by Britishers and has got its independence on 1st of January 1901.
Since then, But having a freedom to speech does not give a liberty to an individual for giving
speech and spreading hatred among people on the basis of caste, race etc. To counter balance,
there is a requirement to ban the hatred speech under which the individual should be punishable
for the activities such as graffiti, commercial fraud, perjury etc. as this can harm an individual on
the personal and professional level.
It is debatable that it shall not be allowed to spill venom through hate speeches among
general people in the name of free speech. The constitution of Australia has provided freedom of
speech to individuals within the country. If a country is ruled by another nation, then it is
obvious that the level of free speech is not going to be enough as compared to be in a
independent country. The term free speech would mean that an individual is not stopped from
speaking and communicating his views to others. But at the same time, this has to be made sure
that no undue advantage is derived of this right to expression. For example, in the name of free
speech, hatred is spread among people on the basis of gender, sex, race etc. This refers to racism
in law and any individual can not resort to racism in the name of free speech. The government of
Australia has laid down various kinds of rules and regulations to prevent such hatred to be spread
out among people through public speeches or gatherings etc.
For the purpose of gaining a better understanding of the issue in an efficient manner,
Various primary and secondary legal resources will be used, The primary resources include:
Constitution understood as an umbrella under which the Laws and acts are being framed. Laws
are made keeping in mind that constitutional rights are protected. Other is Court Cases cases
related with the topic can be assessed to get a better understanding of all the facts.
On the other side secondary resources includes legal periodicals i.e. quite helpful in
cases as well as provisions in a particular subject area. If the topic or the subjects are too
specialised then it can be easily found in periodicals. Legal directories can refer as directories
from which legal and government can be derived and has been used effectively for explaining
the topic and its legal aspects.

Racial Discrimination Act, 1975 has been introduced which aims at restricting the racial
discrimination on the basis of caste, colour, gender etc. The racial Discrimination act makes it
completely Unlawful to humiliate or insult someone on the basis of their race in any way
(Daniels, 2013). There are variety of acts that can be constituted as racial hatred like speaking,
singing, making gestures in public with an ultimate aim to humiliate or insult someone.
Under the commonwealth constitution, Australian people were given necessary freedom
to speech and this has created various benefits to the ultimate public in general. They are able to
communicate effectively without any restrictions. Also, there is a specific need to make sure that
no misuse of this act shall take place among people. Misuse would mean that in the name of
freedom of speech, hatred speeches, unnecessary remarks and all the other things which fuel
racism in society shall not be allowed in any way.
This racial vilification law in Australia makes hatred speeches, an unlawful act and thus
can not be used as a measure to insult other individual or people in any way. From past ages old
traditions and rituals is being followed by the older generations. As laid in the Social Infirmity
Report of Australian Government in September (2013), it has been the culture among families
and this has been told to youths and young people by older generations like family and friends
that race of an individual does matter and its fine to judge people on the basis of their religion,
race, caste etc. This has lead to creation of racial mindset among youths, which further fuels
racial discrimination among themselves applying the same in their life within college as well as
universities leading to many issues and problems in the longer run.
The important case of Racial Hatred within Australia was Jones Vs. Toben [September,
2002] will be studied to analyse the condition. Under which Mr. Toben posted some racial
content regarding Jews on internet which was contended by the executive council of Australian
Jewry in court and the same was accepted by the court and it decides to rule in favour of the
complainant that the material posted was in violation of Racial Discrimination Act, 1975 and the
court ordered to remove the same immediately from the internet (De Leeuw and Van Wichelen,
2012 ).
There are various kinds of penalties that are being laid down in the act, in case an
individual is found to be in violation of the racial discrimination act 1975. A maximum Penalty
of 10,000$ fine or 6 months of imprisonment for an individual and 1,00,000$ fine for
corporations is there within the act. The aim is to discourage people from passing racist