SSC Descriptive Writing Precis Writing SSC-CGL (TIER-III) - Passage on Free Speech

PASSAGE ON FREE SPEECH

It is worth spelling out why free expression is the bed" rock of all liberties. Free speech is the best defense against bad government Politicians who err (that is, all of them) should be subjected to unfettered criticism. Those who hear it may respond to it; those who silence it may never find out how their policies misfired. As Amartya Sen, a Nobel laureate, has pointed out, no democracy with a free press ever endured famine. In all areas of life, free debate sorts good ideas from box ones. Science cannot develop unless old certainties are queried. Taboos are the enemy of understanding. When China's government orders economists to offer optimistic forecasts, it guarantees that its own policymaking will be ill informed,, When American social-science faculties hire only left-wing professors, their research deserves to be taken less seriously.. The law should recognize the right to free speech as nearly absolute. Exceptions should be rare. Child pornography should be banned, since its production involves harm to children. States need to keep some things secret: free speech does not mean the right to publish nuclear launch codes. But in most areas where campaigners are calling for enforced civility (or worse, deference) they should be resisted. Blasphemy laws are an anachronism. A religion should be open to debate. Laws against hate speech are unworkably sub jective and widely abused. Banning words or arguments which one group finds offensive does not lead to social harmony. On the contrary, it gives everyone an incentive to take of- fence—a fact that opportunistic politicians with ethnic-based support are quick to exploit.

Incitement to violence should be banned. However, it should be narrowly defined as instances when the speaker intends to goad those who agree with him to commit violence, and when his words are likely to have an immediate effect. Shouting "Let's kill the Jews" to an angry mob outside a synagogue qualifies. Drunkenly posting 'T wish all the Jews were dead" on an obscure Facebook page probably does not. Saying something offensive about a group whose members then start a riot certainly does not count. They should have responded with words, or by ignoring the fool who insulted them.

In volatile countries, such as Rwanda and Burundi, words that incite violence will differ from those that would do so in a stable democracy. But the principles remain the same. The police should deal with serious and imminent threats not arrest every bigot with a laptop or a megaphone. (The governments of Rwanda and Burundi, alas, show no such restraint.)

PRECIS-ECONOMIST

THE IMPORTANCE OF FREE SPEECH

Free speech is often called the keystone of all liberties, and this can be clearly justified. Free speech gives the citizen right to criticize without which the state may go dictatorial. But not everything, like the nuclear launch codes, can be revealed under the title of free speech. The discretion shouldn't curtail necessary information too. Blasphemy laws are redundant in this age, since it gives the citizens an incentive to take offence. Deliberately inciting riots is an offence, but a careless expression of one's opinion isn't. The states should stop arresting every bigot with an internet connection.