Conclusion: Philosophies and principles in turbulent times

Monroe Price, Nicole Stremlau

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

This is a time – echoing a similar moment after World War II – where theories of speech and society are under intense examination with contestation as to what international norms will or should emerge. In the 1940s, it was war and devastation that gave birth to a Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). In the current environment, there are a variety of provocations and realizations. New technologies, as detailed in the Introduction and in many of the chapters, are causing a reexamination of existing arrangements. States seem weaker and intermediaries such as television networks and new media are growing ever stronger. Rising populism and geopolitical changes are altering the political environment that undergirded the 1940s settlement on defining human rights. The globalization of terrorism creates a new psychological and material framework for thinking through the regulation of speech and press in society. In this much-changed context, traditional practices lead to novel results and novel approaches are necessary to reach traditional consequences. First the satellite and then the Internet, new technologies have transformed the capacity of states and individuals to reach across borders, resulting in movements of information that have placed historic models of national sovereignty at risk. The formula of information and data flowing “regardless of frontiers,” as set out in Article 19 of the UDHR, has taken on new meaning as the way in which individuals receive and transmit data alters, almost daily. Long intense concerns about language, national identity, and modes of assuring loyalty reappear with significant new challenges, from fake news to information warfare. And in this new geopolitical world, rising powers join those who have been more constantly sat at the bargaining table and seek, often, different formulae for approaching controversial issues. With the world in transformation, the stakes are high. Whole economies, ways of life, understandings of the world – all seem to be at issue. In many places, this even includes debates on what constitutes the basic elements of a democratic society, questions asked of the media’s role in ensuring that a society is truly democratic and what is needed to support or undergird a “free and independent media.” In these debates it is important both to assert and defend what are increasingly deemed old “universal” principles and understand the new forces combining to alter those seemingly unalterable principles.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSpeech and Society in Turbulent Times
Subtitle of host publicationFreedom of Expression in Comparative Perspective
PublisherCambridge University Press
Pages317-324
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9781316996850
ISBN (Print)9781107190122
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2017
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Social Sciences

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