The Day you Lost your Freedom of Speech and Expression

We have come to a stage where the government can dictate what we can say and what must remain unsaid. Do you think it is ok?

The freedom of speech, the right to express one’s opinions without censorship, restraint, or legal penalty is fundamental to any democracy. The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man.* The Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 states that –

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

Recognising this precious right, the Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution guarantees the freedom of speech and expression to all citizens of India. In the original text of the Article, the Constitution granted considerable freedom to Indians. However, in 1951, the very first constitutional amendment was used by the government to greatly curtail our freedom of speech and expression.

The Constitution (First Amendment) Act, enacted on 18^th June 1951 inserted the following limitation to the exercise of freedom of speech and expression by Indian citizens –

– Friendly relations with foreign states
– Public order
– Incitement to an offense

While these limitations may seem harmless on the surface, they give vast powers to the government to regulate and ban our speech. The expression ‘friendly relations with foreign states’ could easily limit anyone from criticising foreign policy of the government.

The term ‘public order’ is broad and can be easily misused. The opponents of the government can be detained under this exception. They are a threat to public order after all. Any demonstration against the government amounts to disturbing public order in the society and the government must be allowed to regulate it, right?

And then, there is incitement to an offense or provoking someone else to commit a crime. You may agree that this should be a reasonable exception to the freedom of speech and expression. However, the important thing to note is that in all such cases, the power to decide what is an ‘incitement’ and what is not rests with the ruling government. And we all know how that works.

And these are just some of the exceptions added under the first amendment. With additional amendments and original text of the constitution, we have come to a stage where the government can dictate what we can say and what must remain unsaid. Do you think it is ok? Please let us know in comments.

Today was the day you lost your freedom of speech and expression