Howie Emily
a Human Rights Law Centre , Sydney , Australia.
Int J Speech Lang Pathol. 2018 Feb;20(1):12-15. doi: 10.1080/17549507.2018.1392612. Epub 2017 Nov 10.
Since its inclusion in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right to freedom of opinion and expression has been protected in all of the relevant international human rights treaties. In international law, freedom to express opinions and ideas is considered essential at both an individual level, insofar as it contributes to the full development of a person, and being a foundation stone of democratic society. Free speech is a necessary precondition to the enjoyment of other rights, such as the right to vote, free assembly and freedom of association, and is essential to ensure press freedom. However, there is a clear and worrying global trend, including in western democracies, of governments limiting vibrant discussion and debate within civil society and among civil society, political leaders and government. Two examples illustrate this trend. First, anti-protest laws in Australia and the United States threaten the ability of people to stand together and express views on issues they care deeply about. Secondly, metadata retention laws jeopardise press freedom by undermining the confidentiality of journalists' sources and dissuading people from speaking freely on matters of public importance.
自被纳入《世界人权宣言》第十九条以来，见解和言论自由权在所有相关国际人权条约中均得到保护。在国际法中，表达意见和想法的自由在个人层面被视为至关重要，因为它有助于个人的全面发展，同时也是民主社会的基石。言论自由是享有其他权利（如投票权、自由集会权和结社自由）的必要前提，对于确保新闻自由也至关重要。然而，包括西方民主国家在内，全球出现了一种明显且令人担忧的趋势，即政府限制民间社会内部以及民间社会、政治领袖和政府之间充满活力的讨论和辩论。有两个例子可以说明这种趋势。第一，澳大利亚和美国的反抗议法威胁到人们团结起来并就他们深切关注的问题表达观点的能力。第二，元数据保留法通过破坏记者消息来源的保密性并劝阻人们就具有公共重要性的事项自由发言，危及新闻自由。
