Political correctness and freedom of expression
- Authors: Embling, Geoffrey
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Political correctness , Freedom of speech , Political correctness -- South Africa , Freedom of speech -- South Africa , Censorship , Censorship -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government , Political satire, South African , Fanatacism , Toleration
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/40873 , vital:25035
- Description: A brief history of political correctness is discussed along with various definitions of it, ranging from political correctness being a benign attempt to prevent offense and avert discrimination to stronger views equating it with Communist censorship or branding it as "cultural Marxism". The aim of the research is to discover what political correctness is, how it relates to freedom of expression and what wider implications and effects it has on society. The moral foundations of rights and free speech in particular are introduced in order to set a framework to determine what authority people and governments have to censor others' expression. Different philosophical views on the limits of free speech are discussed, and arguments for and against hate speech are analysed and related to political correctness. The thesis looks at political correctness on university campuses, which involves speech codes, antidiscrimination legislation and changing the Western canon to a more multicultural syllabus. The recent South African university protests involving issues such as white privilege, university fees and rape are discussed and related to political correctness. The thesis examines the role of political correctness in the censorship of humour, it discusses the historical role of satire in challenging dogmatism and it looks at the psychology behind intolerance. Political correctness appeals to tolerance, which is sometimes elevated at the expense of truth. Truth and tolerance are therefore weighed up, along with their altered definitions in today's relativistic society. The last part of the thesis looks at South Africa's unique brand of political correctness, along with Black Economic Empowerment, colonialism and white guilt, and the research concludes that political correctness is a distinct form of censorship which has developed in modern democracies. The new forms of justice and morality seen in political correctness are distortions of left-wing liberalism, which appeal to different values to those of traditional liberalism.
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- Date Issued: 2017
An examination of the constitutional congruity of the current media legislation in Zimbabwe to global trends
- Authors: Chabinjwa, Trevor
- Date: 2011-12
- Subjects: Mass Media , Zimbabwe , Freedom of speech
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/24161 , vital:62438
- Description: The focus of this dissertation was on the nature and operation of laws and regulations that were and are still being used to limit the freedom of the media in Zimbabwe. Through a legal and political analysis of the evolution and use of these laws and regulations by successive governments in Zimbabwe, the study provides an important perspective on the struggle for media freedom in Zimbabwe. The main focus of this study was to examine the impact of media laws in Zimbabwe on the freedom of expression of its citizens. Some of the key media laws under the spotlight include; Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA). The underpinning theoretical framework was informed by the Authoritarian, Libertarian and the Social Responsibility schools of thought. Questionnaires and in-depth interviews with selected key informants were the chief methods for data collection. Secondary data such as court cases, newspapers and some documents from organisations such as the UN, African Charter and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Culture, Information and Sport were also consulted. Qualitative data was analysed using thematic content analysis while tables, graphs and charts which were interpreted and linked with processed qualitative data to come up with emerging trends and resolutions. The research revealed that the government is aware of the shortcomings in the regulations and laws relating to the media, but is not willing to make genuine and comprehensive reforms. These laws impact negatively on freedom of expression on citizens especially journalists and their media houses. It is evident from the findings that media houses in Zimbabwe are vulnerable. These laws have forced some media houses such as Daily news, Tribune and Capital radio to close. Some of these institutions have since opened after the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU). But little has changed even after the formation of the GNU. Some of the journalists left Zimbabwe for fear of prosecution. This goes on to confirm that the current media legislations in Zimbabwe are not congruent with global norms such as the SADC Protocol on Culture, Information and Sport, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 19, the African Charter Article 9, and African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) which advocates for freedom of the media and expression. The study concluded that there is no freedom of expression in media legislation as has been witnessed from the findings of the study. The study then recommended crafting of new laws which promote freedom of expression of the citizens of Zimbabwe. , Thesis (MA) -- Social Sciences and Humanities, 2011
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- Date Issued: 2011-12
The binding roots of free speech
- Authors: Boughey, Thomas John George
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Freedom of speech
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2849 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006255
- Description: This thesis argues that the modern notion of free-speech was born within the Westphalian nation-state. It suggests that the legal rights framework - particular to the Westphalian nationstate - not only legitimizes and legalizes the right to free-speech, but also enables us to invoke legally the necessary limitations that demand the limitation of free-speech in certain contexts. However, such a legal-rights framework is exclusive to the nation-state and cannot be enforced on an international level, outside of the nation-state boundary. With reference to examples on an international level, this thesis demonstrates that calls for the limitation of free-speech are indeed legitimate and necessary but cannot be enforced on an international level for the reasons just mentioned. In order to address this problem, this thesis proposes a framework - based on a Kantian model - that enables us to invoke the limitation of free-speech on an international level without appealing to a legal-rights discourse to do so.
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- Date Issued: 2009