Why Freedom Of Speech Should, as far as possible, Be Granted To The People

In my opinion, the governments of nations should as far as possible grant the people freedom of speech. The government need only step in when the people are crossing the borders of freedom of speech, and as said by Baggini & Kassim,"... we should constrain the liberty of others if what they do causes harm..." As such, the people should be able to voice out their opinions, and are beginning to cause harm to a person or ,more importantly, a group of people. If the opinions expressed do not cause this type of harm, and only offends a group of people, then these people can rally together and protest, excersising their freedom of speech, or as put by Chua, they can "vote with their wallets." When the caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) were published, as a muslim, I avoided Lurpak butter. I still do not purchase Lurpak butter, and my family and I use Flora butter to add flavour to our bread(which is locally produced). My own "mini" protest gave me much satisfaction, and will give any rational person, in my opinion, a sense of satisfaction. Living in a multi-racial and multi-religious society, everyone has to accommodate one another. As such, people can simply have the satisfaction that they have done something to express their views on a specific issue and have exercised their freedom of speech, while not stirring up any racial riots. As said by Chua, "It is the old dictum of a democratic, liberal society, that I may disagree with you, but I will defend vigorously your right to do so."  In keeping true to our democratic roots, I feel that the government should, as far as possible, give people their right to express their views. This would mean the scrapping of all laws protecting a specific race or religion from what they deem to be insult. 

The press has to be granted freedom of speech as well. This is provided that the press knows how to exercise its freedom of speech in a way that is not damaging to the society. If the press were to take extreme views on a certain topic, then they should be able to phrase and justify their view in a way that will please those who agree with them, and give those who disagree with them a point to ponder about. The forum pages of the newspapers should also give the people freedom of speech, meaning that the maximum possible number of views should be printed. This type of expression of views will result in healthy debate among the people, and the government can focus on more important issues.