For weeks, people have been enraged by a terrible video on the internet. Some have called for blasphemous things like this to be censored. However, President Barack Obama addressed the UN assembly about the freedom of such speech.
Specifically, Obama makes his stance on the issue very obvious: "I know there are some who ask why we don’t just ban such a video. The answer is enshrined in our laws: our Constitution protects the right to practice free speech." (11:16 in the video). He opposes any thought of restricting any speech. This would include even hateful opinions. This might seems odd, but he cites the Constitution as protecting all speech. He says that even banning expression as vulgar as this would go against what America stands for. Personally, I agree with him. I think that censorship laws would be unwieldy: too much would be up for interpretation as for what is considered offensive. Anything that could remotely make someone upset could be censored.
In another part of the speech, Obama related himself to the situation, saying that " I accept that people are going to call me awful things every day, and I will always defend their right to do so." (11:48 in the video). Obama, the most powerful man in the world, doesn't have a problem with slander against him. This form of speech would fall under the same protection as before: the first amendment. Basically what he is saying is that if people can speak freely about him, they should be able to speak freely about anything.
However, this is only one man's opinion. What's your opinion? Sure, we already answered this in class, but do you think disparaging speech is protected? How do you think America's ideal and right to free speech compares with the ideas of others?
In another part of the speech, Obama related himself to the situation, saying that " I accept that people are going to call me awful things every day, and I will always defend their right to do so." (11:48 in the video). Obama, the most powerful man in the world, doesn't have a problem with slander against him. This form of speech would fall under the same protection as before: the first amendment. Basically what he is saying is that if people can speak freely about him, they should be able to speak freely about anything.
However, this is only one man's opinion. What's your opinion? Sure, we already answered this in class, but do you think disparaging speech is protected? How do you think America's ideal and right to free speech compares with the ideas of others?
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