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So what is Free Speech? What is Free Speech? What is Free Speech?
Free speech is being able to express yourself and talking about whatever you want without
getting assaulted and or arrested. Or like just censored. Free speech is like speaking
your mind. Like no matter what you say people may disagree with you but it's your opinion. I
think it empowers people. It's a privilege. It's such a special like treasured thing that so many
people just take for granted. Should everyone have free speech? It’s a difficult question
and should everybody have it? Yes, they should but obviously there has to be a line somewhere.
This is going to sound terrible but I don't think so. And you believe that some people
shouldn't have that basic right? Like I think Free Speech should be allowed for everyone that's
not going to harm others but you know it can be dangerous. We hear a lot about freedom of speech
but actually freedom of expression is a human right. So how does it work in the real world?
Rosie Jones is a comedian who has a lot to say about just how complicated Free Speech can be.
Are you ready? Strong. Comedians have quite a difficult time here- Yeah- because you know
who are you going to make the target of your joke- yeah- now who would you not joke about?
I wouldn't joke about a person or a group of people that I don't have
personal experience about. You'd be quite happy joking about disability? Yes,
but even that is tricky because in my comedy I made jokes about myself. I make jokes about the
way I walk and I way I talk because it's me. If somebody else comes along and makes a joke
about the way you talk-yeah- what do you think of that? It's depends who they are. I think you can
say anything as long as your intention is good. Do you think that social media has helped free
speech? Given more people a voice? I fundamentally think social media is good because it allows free
speech. It allows me to talk to so many people and to hear so many opinions. But people do
sometimes piling on you on social media, don't they? Yes, and that’s a bad side of free speech.
Being on TV means that people think it's okay to go on Twitter and make fun of what I look like
or what I sound like and it it's hurtful. Most of us would agree that being able to express
ourselves freely was important, but there are limits and that's where the disagreements start.
Those disagreements go way back.
In Greece, over 2 000 years ago, the people of Athens were thinking long and hard about
who could have a voice. They were governed by a system which might sound familiar: democracy.
They were the first to use that word. It comes from the Greek words Demos which means people
and Kratos which means rule or power. But Athenian democracy wasn't quite like ours. The people of
Athens didn't need to elect someone to speak on their behalf, like our MPs do for us, they had
big meetings where ordinary citizens had the right to stand up and say exactly what they thought when
it came to the city's major decisions. They had a handy name for this idea that everyone should
be able to speak equally they called it Isegoria we might translate today as freedom of speech.
Put like that it sounds great, but actually when the ancient Athenians referred to the people,
they just meant adult men. The people didn't include women or slaves or foreigners or children.
And even if you were one of the lucky men who had a voice, it didn't mean your fellow
citizens wanted to hear what you had to say. The Athenians thought that sometimes people
needed to be shut up and they invented a way of doing just that [Music] laughs
Okay explain what these are for. I mean what is this process all about? How does it work? Okay
so once a year the Athenians would get together and make two decisions. First whether to get rid
of someone and second who it should be. And they would take little bits of clay which they used as
paper and write down the name of the person they wanted to get rid of. And whoever got the most
votes got booted out? You've got it. Exactly. Let's have a go then, come on. There you are.
Right. I'm very sorry Mary but I'm going to get rid of you from Athens. Well, that's a bit mean,
in which case I think I'm going to get rid of you then. No. Alex, I'm writing. Mary.
Now of course everyone could only have one vote but since it's just the two
of us I think it's all right if we vote a few extra times.
So, who's getting booted out then? I'm sorry to tell you you've gotten the most votes you're
getting booted out of Athens for 10 years! Oh no that's very mean. I'm so sorry. I mean
it feels to me, it would because I've just got booted out, it feels
like cancel culture this. I can see why you would say that but there are some differences. If you
think about it, they only do this once a year and it's a democratic process where they all vote
to make the decision which is pretty different from cancel culture which can happen overnight
Mis may all seem very weird and a very long time ago but actually the Athenians called
these bits of pot ostraca and they called the whole process ostracism
and we still use the word ostracize, when we mean exclude someone or push them away,
so in a sense, there's still a little bit of this ancient pop culture in our world too.
In 399 BC the Athenians decided to shut up one man in particular that man was called Socrates.
Socrates was a philosopher and he was famous for questioning people about big issues like justice,
courage, and love and often proving they didn't really know what they were talking about.
Some people accused him of disrespecting the gods and corrupting the young men of Athens.
This landed him in trouble which was much worse than being ostracized. Socrates was put on trial.
If he found himself in court today what would have been the case for and against?
[Mumbles] [Gavel banging]
This Old Gentleman in the dock, he might look innocent he might look a bit like
your granddad, but I tell you he's a dangerous radical. What's he doing?
he's corrupting the Youth of our city; he's teaching them to quite to question everything he’s
teaching them to question things that we know are true. I mean if you let Socrates off the hook,
you might as well send a climate change denier and an anti-vaxxer into every school
in the country. I have to say we can't let it go on; he's got to be stopped.
Whoa, come on, as Socrates would say, my learned friend, you need to think harder
about all of this. The point is how do we get to decide who is speaking the truth? How can
we decide what's true without questioning it? Being disruptive and provocative is good for us.
Oh, come on this man is dangerous. You have to remember that words like his can do harm
and I don't just mean that words can hurt our feelings, words can kill you. I mean look at the
anti-vaxxers look at the climate change deniers if we believe them, we are literally killing people.
Yes, this can sometimes be dangerous but how much more dangerous would it
be particularly for a democracy to impose agreement and to boot people out of our
community just for saying things that some people don't agree with?
Well, we've got a problem here. Is Socrates a nice constructive disruptor, a cuddly inclusive kind of
guy? Or is he a dangerous radical? That's what I think, but jury the verdict is yours. [Music]
Should Socrates have been allowed to express himself? But what if his ideas were dangerous
to Athenian Society? In the end Socrates was found guilty and sentenced to death by drinking poison.
It's one of the most controversial decisions in history. Was this the ultimate cancelling? Well,
he has become one of the most famous philosophers in history, so maybe not.
There have been arguments about free speech almost as
long as there have been human beings on the planet. There are always going to be people
we disagree with, who have views that we think are wrong or offensive but how do
we deal with that? Should we cancel them or should we let them have their platform?
Afterall can we really be so sure that we are the ones who are right
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