On a general tone, free Speech is exactly what it sounds like, your right to express your opinions, your right to say what you wish without the fear of any backlash. Sounds pretty great on paper or in theory. But really, is it that great? Do we really need it? Yes, and No.

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Free Speech is a necessary evil.

While it is important to be able to express our opinions freely, it is extremely crucial to draw the line somewhere. Till what level are you allowed to express your opinions? Till what extent is it tolerable? To what extent should one be allowed to express their opinions?

It will vary from society to society, community to community. What is accepted in one society might not be accepted in another and so the Free Speech of these two societies will be different.

It comes down to the social norms of the society. Public display of affection for example, is totally normal in certain countries, where it will fall within limits of freedom, while in certain countries by social norms, it is outside the limits of freedom.

These norms absolutely need to be respected. One can not go ahead and say well, this is part of my freedom and I can do whatever I want. No, that is not okay. That is not ideal.

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Ideal Free speech and Absolute Free speech are different.

Free speech should definitely preserved and it is great when the people know their limits, and respect the values of a society. In my opinion free speech does not mean the right to express Whatever one wants to! That is absolute free speech, but not ideal. Absolute free speech is the evil we don't need.

Absolute free speech is what gives rise to things like racial abuse, bullying, demeaning others. There will always be people in our societies who will take thing too far and use free speech, their right to express their opinions as their shield in their mayhem. There will always be people who are not capable of handling absolute freedom of speech.

And this is why we need to have certain rules that goes with the level of tolerance of different societies. Then the question arises, if we're putting a cap on how much can be expressed, does it remain free speech anymore? Does it not become censored? No, absolutely not. This is in fact required to preserve free speech. What we need to understand is,

Free speech was never meant to be absolute. It was always meant to be Ideal.

Free speech is a beautiful concept, only to be corrupted by a few people who knows no limits and abuses their right to inflict pain upon others. This needs to be kept under control.

But of course it goes both ways. Too much control can not be exerted in the name of preserving values of the society. The amount of control/censorship applied can not be to the extent where people are not even allowed to speak within limits.

It is about finding the right balance between freedom and limits.

....and only then we'll have Free Speech that will let the society prosper and the minds grow.

Until Next Time!

Peace!