Free Speech Debate

Thirteen languages. Ten principles. One conversation.

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1We – all human beings – must be free and able to express ourselves, and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas, regardless of frontiers.»
2We defend the internet and all other forms of communication against illegitimate encroachments by both public and private powers.»
3We require and create open, diverse media so we can make well-informed decisions and participate fully in political life.»
4We speak openly and with civility about all kinds of human difference.»
5We allow no taboos in the discussion and dissemination of knowledge.»
6We neither make threats of violence nor accept violent intimidation.»
7We respect the believer but not necessarily the content of the belief.»
8We are all entitled to a private life but should accept such scrutiny as is in the public interest.»
9We should be able to counter slurs on our reputations without stifling legitimate debate.»
10We must be free to challenge all limits to freedom of expression and information justified on such grounds as national security, public order, morality and the protection of intellectual property.»

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Home | Audio/Video | Free speech at the heart of the Arab Spring – part one

Free speech at the heart of the Arab Spring – part one

In this panel discussion just off Tahrir Square in Cairo, a panel of bloggers, journalists and human rights experts ask what are - and what should be - the limits to freedom of expression in Egypt today.

A panel discussion at Oriental Hall, AUC Tahrir Campus, Cairo on the limits of freedom of expression with Timothy Garton Ash, director of Free Speech Debate; Amr Ezzat, journalist at Al Shorouk newspaper; Amr Gharbeia, blogger and human rights researcher; Nadia Kamel, filmmaker; Noura Younis, blogger and multimedia editor at Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper; and Khaled Fahmy, professor of history at the American University in Cairo. (In Arabic and English.)

(Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images)

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Published on: March 21, 2012 | No Comments

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Free Speech Debate is a research project of the Dahrendorf Programme for the Study of Freedom at St Antony's College in the University of Oxford. www.freespeechdebate.ox.ac.uk