英国大学申请essay：言论自由的煽动法
学者们指出，言论自由是一种自由，而不是许可。因此，它不能被用来诽谤或诋毁个人和组织。它必须在合理的限度和条件下负责任地实行。这就是为什么不同国家的宪法以不同的理由规定了间接的法律机制来规范言论自由、新闻自由和广播自由。这些法律的形式包括仇恨言论法、反煽动叛乱法、诽谤法等。
根据《公民权利和政治权利国际盟约》第20(2)条，“任何鼓吹民族、种族或宗教仇恨，构成煽动歧视、敌视或暴力的行为，均应受法律禁止。”
英国大学申请essay ：言论自由的煽动法
反对言论自由的煽动法被誉为东道国在获得独立前长期处于殖民统治之下的殖民遗产。叛乱分子为推翻殖民政权而煽动民族主义情绪的任何企图，包括通过报纸和广播传播民族主义内容，都可能受到煽动叛乱法的指控(Anastaplo, 2010)。当时，这些法律导致了对基本人权的否定，但是，从多年来日益猖獗的有组织的恐怖主义和反国家活动的角度来看，这些法律是否已被宣布完全过时?最近，Twitter公司对ISIS的宣传采取了积极的行动，删除了看似属于ISIS成员的12.5万个账号(Yadron, 2016)。据《卫报》报道，“长期以来，Twitter和其他科技公司一直在监控其内容，寻找伊斯兰极端主义的迹象。尽管这损害了Twitter作为“言论自由和公开辩论之家”的形象，但该公司并不回避确保该平台不被用于传播恐怖主义言论(Yadron, 2016)。
英国大学申请essay ：言论自由的煽动法
Scholars have pointed out that freedom of speech is a liberty, not a license. Hence it cannot be used to slander or defame individuals and organizations. It has to be practised responsibly and within reasonable limits and conditions. This is why the Constitution of different countries provides indirect legal mechanisms to regulate the freedom of speech, freedom of press, and broadcasting on different grounds. These are in the form of laws such as hate speech laws, anti-sedition laws, defamation laws, etc.
According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 20(2), “Any advocacy of national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.”
英国大学申请essay ：言论自由的煽动法
Sedition laws against free speech are hailed as colonial legacy with the host country that was under a colonial power for a very long time before it gained independence. Any attempt by the rebels to rouse the nationalistic sentiments in order to topple the colonial regime, including distributing nationalistic content through newspapers, and radio, could be charged under Sedition laws (Anastaplo, 2010). At that time, these laws led to denial of basic human rights, but when viewed in context of organized terrorism and anti-state activities that have gained momentum over the years, are these laws declared totally obsolete? Recently, Twitter Inc took proactive action against ISIS propaganda by deleting 125,000 accounts seemingly belonging to ISIS members (Yadron, 2016). As reported by the Guardian, “Twitter and other tech companies have long policed their content for signs of Islamic extremism.” Even though this tarnishes Twitter’s image as “a home for free speech and open debate,” the company does not shy away from ensuring that the platform is not used for spreading terrorist rhetoric (Yadron, 2016).
