Position Paper on Freedom of Expression and Censorship

This position paper argues for the importance of maintaining freedom of expression and the harmful effects of censorship. It includes definitions of key terms, theories related to communism and liberalism, and a case study of Sri Lanka. References from books and journals are also provided.

Position paper of freedom censorship

CONTENTS
OUTLINE OF THE REPORT...................................................................................................1
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................2

OUTLINE OF THE REPORT
Talking in relation with the current paper, it is a type of a media paper which is being
intended to produce a critical debate on the topic freedom of expression in the contexts of
censorships. The report makes an argument that it is crucial for the government throughout
the globe to maintain the right to freedom of expression in the country and make sure that the
freedom of expression right of the citizen is not been influenced due to censorship. In
addition to this, there are different key terms definitions which is being utilized in the current
position paper such as freedom, expression, censorship, theories related to communism and
liberalism etc. Further, this media paper has also highlighted and thrown light on the concepts
and ideas of freedom of expression (Djajić and Lazić, 2021). The paper has defined the right
given to hold views and perspectives and express them without any fear and devoid of any
meddling. Moving further, there are three important theories being discussed in the paper and
the very important among them is the communist theory which gives priority to the value of
the state instead to the individuals and make the idea of making improvement in the
assistances of the state. Secondly, the religious theory was also used which argued that
freedom of speech should be limited in the community for avoiding any sort of conflicts. On
the other hand, the liberalism theory was also used and this theory claimed that freedom is
being regarded as the basic component of the community which has liberal roots.
In addition to this, the present position paper is related with the question of censorship
as it includes the central concept related to freedom of expression and censorship is the main
way through which the freedom of expression is being harmed all throughout the world. In
the report, a case of Sri Lanka for eliminating the freedom of expression has been mentioned
in which the citizens along with the journalists in the nation got arrested and faced trouble
because of the threat of violence for highlighting the case of Tamil memorial plus reporting
in contradiction to the people in power (Scott-Baumann and Perfect, 2021). For the purpose
of reducing the disagreement in media as well as public spaces, the government of Sri Lanka
has utilized the strategy of self-censorship. Moreover, this incident has reflected the lack of
freedom of expression in the nation and the present paper has put forward different urgings
and opinions that freedom of expression is considered quite important right for each and
every individual in this planet and this is required to be re-established at the same time
minimization of any sort of censorship which damages this right of freedom of expression. In
this manner, the question related to censorship is being included in the present media paper
(Tsomidis, 2022).
1

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Djajić, S. and Lazić, D., 2021. Artistic expression: freedom or curse? Some thoughts on
jurisprudence of the european court of human rights from the theoretical perspective of
visual and performance arts and rationales behind freedom of political expression. The
Age of Human Rights Journal, (17), pp.97-124.
Scott-Baumann, A. and Perfect, S., 2021. Freedom of speech in universities: Islam, charities
and counter-terrorism. Routledge.
Tsomidis, T., 2022. Freedom of expression in turbulent times–comparative approaches to
dangerous speech: the ECtHR and the US Supreme Court. The International Journal of
Human Rights, 26(3). pp.379-399.
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