In the list of fundamental rights in any civilized society, freedom of expression comes first. This is a remarkable right—natural to the human mind yet equally irritating to state power.
Ordinary people tend to speak the very things that sound unpleasant to rulers; and the first task of the ruler is to suppress those disturbing words. Thus, throughout history, the suppression of dissent has appeared in terrifying forms.
To win this right, countless philosophers, inquisitive citizens, poets, writers and even politicians have sacrificed themselves across time.
On the question of freedom of expression, we may especially recall the English poet John Milton. In Areopagitica: A Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing (1644), he wrote: “Let me know, let me speak, and let me argue.”
The freedom to speak according to one’s conscience is, he said, the first liberty. It is astonishing to think that at a time when people could still shed blood at will, it was considered a grave crime to use the printing press freely!
In contrast, the French philosopher Voltaire (1694–1778) took a different approach. Whether he agreed or disagreed with someone’s words, he pledged to defend to the death their right to speak them.
Although the famous line is not directly his, his biographer Evelyn Beatrice Hall summarized his spirit as: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
John Stuart Mill, meanwhile, added a philosophical dimension to this discussion. In On Liberty (1859), he stated: “Freedom of thought and freedom of expression are bound together; suppress one and the other dies automatically.”
Mill’s theory warns us that the possibility of truth is never one-sided. What seems wrong to us today may carry within it the seeds of future truth. Therefore, stifling dissent means burying that seed before it can grow.
Today, constitutional recognition of freedom of expression has been adopted—or is being adopted—across the world. In 1791, the United States declared through its First Amendment that no law shall abridge freedom of speech.
This legal shield is not mere ornamentation; it has been upheld repeatedly in court rulings. For example, in 1964 a police commissioner from Alabama sued The New York Times for defamation.
The Supreme Court ruled that for public officials, it is not enough to show an error in reporting; there must be proof of “actual malice.” This ruling gave freedom of expression an almost unshakable foundation in America and became a kind of golden key for the press—legitimizing even harsh criticism of those in power.
The most beautiful aspect of freedom of expression is this: in a neighborhood tea shop one group might say “the country is on the road to ruin,” while on social media another group might declare “the country is now the best in the world.”
Both sides may be wrong, or both may be partly right; but in this clash lies the lifeblood of democracy. If one day everyone speaks in the same tone and with the same voice, it would mean that the soul of freedom has become trapped somewhere.
Thus we must also learn: freedom of expression is not just for ourselves; it must be defended for our adversaries too. Because the voice silenced today may be our own tomorrow.
In protecting another’s right to speak lies the assurance that our own voice will survive. And it is worth remembering—“silence” may at times bring peace, but often that peace is the stillness of a graveyard.
