Since the emergence of the media, press and mass information, freedom of expression has continued to be a subject of controversial debates. Today, there are still countries where practicing freedom of expression risks breaching a country’s laws. Freedom of expression is a vital part of our life; citizens must be able to speak out peacefully for themselves and journalists must be able to denounce unfair acts of violence.

The core issue is when the public disagrees with the government in place and when the latter has repressive tendencies. This network of “rogue states” tend to be excluded from the club of the democracy-led countries, and institutions with NGOs try and perpetuate their efforts to promote the reversal of their behaviour to spread the broad democratic principles that are shared in the western world. It is key to note that journalists’ role is crucial and participates deeply in the consolidation of the “right to know.” Nonetheless, the fact that the freedom of expression has come under threat by authorities clamping down on activists raises the question of how to find consensus about its limits. We have seen governments abusing their power by passing laws criminalizing freedom of expression, and according to them, this is in the name of national security or religion. It is a violation of human rights since the freedom of expression serves as an enabler of all other rights.

First and foremost, it is essential to remember that the right to freedom of expression is stiuplated in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Therefore, it constitutes a fundamental right for any citizen. It is worth noting that how governments tolerate unfavourable views or critical voices tends to indicate how they treat human rights generally. Recently, we have been noticing governments worldwide routinely and illegally imprisoning people and NGOs like Amnesty International advocate for the unconditional release of these people who are considered prisoners of conscience. The Declaration of Human Rights claims that each individual can access justice and enjoy their human rights in an open and fair society. Moreover, today’s digital world enables many of us to access the information we need, including challenging governments and corporations, which translates information into a powerful tool at the public’s disposal. The digital era also creates a divide where some can benefit from access to their laptops with broadband, and therefore have far greater access to information. This is compared to those who have to walk miles to an internet cafe. This constitues a significant uneven exercise of the freedom of expression that needs to be solved.

To propose some exits to this debate around freedom of expression, is it important to undercover and promote its actual characteristics. Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of democracy, and the latter is the best way to spread this precious right. Nowadays, UNESCO is mandated to be the guard and promoter of this right. As mentioned before, freedom of expression underpins other important human rights such as freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.

The Constitution must also strengthen its duty of monitoring the compliance of heads of states in respecting its rules. To spread this freedom, the values of democracy must come into the front line as well. The right of expression has to exercise and be addressed in a peaceful frame since it is also closely linked to freedom of association, which can be subject of escalation of conflicts. Certain laws must be eliminated especially those criminalizing individuals who use or protest in favour of the freedom of expression, and no laws should be able to repress peaceful a behaviour. Incentives by government should be deployed to raise the initiative of expression, for instance removing taxes on newsprint or reducing the price of newspapers so that any actor in the society can afford the access of information. According to data, in 2019 the UNESCO has condemned the killing of 77 journalists and the key fact is that these tragic incidents occurred in peacetime for small and local publications. They were accused of attempting to expose wrongdoing or corruption. Furthermore, in Egypt we have noticed that the government tends to repress any criticism it receives and according to Amnesty, in 2018 the authorities arrested 113 individuals for this reason. As a result they have been unfairly detained for months without trial. Therefore, it is important to raise awareness of the fundamental role that the press and media play in society and the need to secure media workers’ security. Freedom of expression and access to information is an essential constituent of an effective democratic society. It allows the free flow of ideas crucial for our society’s advancement, without forgetting that it encourages innovation and bolstering accountability transparency. To quote UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, she affirmed: “Journalism thrives when media is free and independent, when journalists are safe to report, when impunity is the exception,” said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova. Indeed, UNESCO is an organization that supports a wide range of independent media in areas of conflict with the primary goal of enabling them to play an active role in conflict prevention and resolution and the transition towards a more sustainable democracy.