What is free speech?

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

These words were enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on Dec. 10, 1948. The Declaration resulted from the events of the Second World War and is the first expression of rights to which all people are inherently entitled.

Free speech is restricted by all nations, to some degree, with the test usually being whether influencing a third party’s opinions or actions adversely affects the second party. Libel, slander, obscenity, sedition, hate speech and numerous other specific acts are restricted by law, as are forms of expression considered offensive to society, special interest groups or individuals.

Canada protects free speech, of course, but here too the right is not absolute. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees “the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.”

The key is that all citizens of a state, however free, are bound to adhere to that state’s laws, or face sanction—mild or severe—by their government.

For example, in 1984, Alberta teacher James Keegstra was charged and convicted for “promoting hatred against an identifiable group by communicating anti-Semitic statements to his students.” After appeals that reached to the Supreme Court of Canada, the conviction was upheld and Keegstra served a one-year suspended sentence, one year of probation, and 200 hours of community service work.

In a contrasting case, Saudi Arabian writer and activist Raif Badawi created a website in 2006 called Free Saudi Liberals, a blog promoting freedom of expression and fostering public debate about religion in Saudi Arabia. Badawi was arrested in 2012 and convicted in 2013 on charges of apostasy (abandoning or renouncing a religious or political belief), an offence punishable by death under Saudi Arabia’s Sharia law. In 2014, he was fined one million Saudi Riyals (C$330,000) and sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for “insulting Islam and religious authorities.”

These examples are given to show that every nation in the world has its own laws with which to adjudicate then punish those who cross its legal lines of free speech. Each nation sets its own socially accepted levels of punishment—many are reasonable, some are abhorrent.

But no one on the planet, not even the most fervent adherent to a state or religion, has the right to mete out anything like the repugnant attacks seen in Paris in January.

The Palais de Chaillot, where the Declaration of Human Rights was enshrined, is a mere seven kilometres from the office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, where gunmen killed 12 people, and 20 kilometres from the kosher market in Porte de Vincennes, where another gunman killed four. The perpetrators stated they were acting in the name of Islam, exacting vengeance for cartoons that blaspheme the Prophet Muhammad.

This assault on a nation’s ideals was executed by well-trained barbarians commanded by a vengeful, borderless cult of religious extremism, which does not represent the true nature and values of Islam. Yes, some of the slain cartoonists did flout the religion’s dictum, but they did not break any national, or international, laws. Big difference.

France is one of the world’s cradles of democracy and liberty. Countless people, including thousands of Canadians, have fought and died on its soil defending its right to exist as a civilized state based on freedom, equality and human rights. Many wars have been fought for these priciples.

This magazine itself is a vehicle of free speech, with the right to voice opinions that may concur or dissent with the opinions of others—including our readers, whose opinions we welcome and highly respect.

But at this time, it seems safe to say, we all speak with one voice: “Nous sommes Charlie.”