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Friday, January 22, 2016

How much Impact does Banning YouTube and Social Networks have on Freedom of Expression?

"What is Freedom of Expression? 
Without the Freedom to Offend, it ceases to Exist."
-Salman Rushdie                 
Freedom of Expression is one of the fundamental human right and all the humans should be given the privilege to enjoy it, cherish it but there are some elements around the world which possess a different meaning of it altogether. 
In accordance with my opinion, freedom of expression is to have the liberty of expressing and voicing our choices, thoughts, views and opinions without having the fear of anything and everything. But with some entities around us, this seems to be a far away thought for many.
Let's not call names because I do not appreciate the blame games but in many countries websites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. are banned and the reasons supporting them are unjustifiable too. 
It is not a  hidden fact that why it has been done and the reasons are as  clear as water and which is that their governments do not want to liberate the minds of their citizens, their motive is very much prominent that they do not want to give them an option to or rather say an opportunity to develop a sense of judging their actions as what is right and what is wrong. 
YouTube is an open and free platform that allows uploading and sharing of music and videos by all and I strongly believe that it should be kept in this way intact and be accessible to all without any sorts of discrimination.
The recent example is of the attack that happened in 2015 almost an year back at the office of the french satirical weekly magazine/newspaper, Charlie Hebdo in France was inhumane in every sense. What they did actually was that they had published some controversial cartoons which as quoted by some sources that they were found offensive and had hurt the religious sentiments of some particular religious groups, later what followed was an attack on the magazine headquarters resulting in the untimely death of eleven innocent people and injuries to many.
My point is simple if you do not come on terms of agreement or liking towards any approach put forward  by someone, then don't put a mask of favoring  it instead counteract it, debate over the topic but killing people, having riots, banning commodities to send a message forward to others should not be accepted.
The impact of such gestures is that it only generates an emotion of hatred in the hearts. Because banning or shutting shops of those who are not on terms with your policies will not serve the purpose instead it will only build their reputation from strength to strength. And the impact of ceasing the freedom to express would result in empowering it.
As quoted by Salman Rushdie, Freedom to Offend is an indispensable part of Freedom of Expression and these two co-exists together. If you are offended, then it's your problem and splicing our basic human right won't help in your case. If you do not like what has been expressed by any individual, then avoid it, deny it, ignore it or learn to come on terms with it because you cannot stop it.
This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

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