The War Against Freedom of Speech

YUCATAN TIMES
By Nubia Nieto

"Christ Destroying His Cross" (1943) by José Clemente Orozco

The violent protests in the Muslim world over an anti-Islam film made in the USA, reveal not only that the freedom of speech is far away from being reached in the Middle East, but also shows how dangerous it is to install this freedom of speech in some countries. In Latin America, the freedom of speech seems to be also an important challenge and social aspiration. In Russia, the punk band Pussy Riot has been jailed for two-years for taking part in protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin. In Europe even if the freedom of speech is better that does not mean it is perfect some example are France and the United Kingdom, which supposedly are democratic countries, plan to submit laws to allow monitoring of phone calls, text messages, emails, social networks and other electronic communications by their governments on the premise of combating terrorism and organised crime. It is a value that needs to be preserved at any cost for the well-being of societies. [link]