Expressing Yourself

Expressing Yourself

The banal but likeable statement of ‘express yourself’ is being used

by almost every business organization to promote their liberalism. The

example being that of the countless cell phone connection services is

evident enough for everyone to see. Ironically, is it that simple to

express one’s self all the time and at every occasion? Sadly, real

life can be more complicated than this and freedom of expression has

to be restricted at certain circumstances.

‘Expression’ can be implied in various forms such as verbal,

non-verbal, visual and symbolic. In general, these include the works

of art, radio and electronic transmission, print media, dramatic works

including theatre, motion pictures, drawings, engravings etc. The

freedom of expression is a basic constitutional right.

However, exercising freedom of expression can be irresponsible in

narrowly limited situations for example defamation. Defamation means

alleging a false statement that is harmful for a person’s reputation.

In other words freedom of expression should be curbed in case of

slander. Slander can create a lot of problems for the alleged person

and it can cost him dearly for example he may lose his job due to a

bad reputation.

Another case can be if the speech or expression causes panic amongst

the masses in terms of disturbing the general religious or ethical

codes. A certain artistic work can cause a great uproar in audiences

like the publication of an amoral book or the making of a motion

picture against the government. This can be said to cause provoke

alarm amongst the public which leads to an unpleasant feed back.

Therefore freedom of this kind of expression can be restricted.

Any expression that leads to the breach of peace should also be

checked as it causes problems for the government. A speech that

incites rebellion or even civil wars is harmful for national or

sometimes international peace. Therefore it is irresponsible to

exercise freedom of speech if peace is threatened.

If a certain mode of expression incites crime, the freedom of such a

demonstration should be constrained.