Free Speech

Free speech is not just for the people or thoughts we like or agree with; it is also for people we despise and opinions that we do not support

By Sishuwa Sishuwa

I believe in freedom of expression. I live or practice this belief. I believe that free speech is intended to protect the expression of ideas in public, to enable us to communicate with each other about what we understand to be true, and to share opinions, debate differing viewpoints, and challenge the status quo.

I believe that every person has the right to express themselves in any way, to share opinions that diverge from my own or the prevailing narrative, and to say whatever they want or think including when responding to what I share. In turn, I can choose to respond or ignore, although I welcome and make every effort to read and understand the reactions, rebuttals, or concerns that other people express in response to what I have said.

Having claimed and exercised my freedom of expression, I am only all too aware of the right of others to exercise the same right on any matter, including when commenting on my public commentaries. Being human, it is natural that we will have varying lines of thought. Flexibility in slant of views is in keeping up with our humanness. I believe that it is only through many conversations that we can reconsider our positions, challenge our assumptions, question our convictions, and come to appreciate our own ignorance.

One thing I will never do in response to any criticism of my opinions or of me as a person is to block any person, to mute them on social media and consequently shut myself from the knowledge of their views, or to interfere in any way with their right to express themselves fully, even in instances where the person is saying nothing substantive or rational. The right to free speech would be meaningless if it was accompanied by a requirement to only give expression to reasonable or sensible thoughts.

As a matter of fact, I receive a lot of flak, nasty responses, insults or ad hominem attacks over the opinions or ideas I express. As is true of my rather indifferent attitude towards praise, these things do not get to me. They do not bother me at all. If they did, I would have long stopped expressing myself on public issues. I speak to express my opinions, not to secure anyone’s validation, respect, support, or favour. What easily gets to me is reason, logic, or a good argument, displayed by an ability to show weakness in my stated point of view. I actively listen and pay greater attention to content-based criticism. I believe that free speech is the heart of a free, open, and democratic society.

I am gravely concerned about the increasing limitations placed on free speech in Zambia today by two threats. The first threat to free speech is the current administration that has enacted a series of anti-free speech laws and dusted off colonial-era repressive legislation to lock up critics for expressing views that should ordinarily be handled within the realm of political debate rather than by state institutions such as the police. This is a dangerous path that creates a climate of fear, stifles growth, and fuels public resentment against the leadership or political party in government.

The hesitancy that people feel to freely express themselves is grounded in a realistic fear of reprisal from the authorities, as many are worried that one misstep could lead to arrest or – given the absence of an independent judiciary that protects individual liberties – imprisonment. Yes, free speech must be exercised responsibly to be beneficial to society. However, the government cannot be the determiner of what is or is not responsible free speech.

The second threat to free speech in Zambia today is the growing individual intolerance to thoughts or opinions that we do not like. Many people are increasingly hesitant to speak their minds, to share their true thoughts, to challenge or question the status quo because they fear the backlash, mainly from overzealous supporters of the party in power, and the social repercussions: isolation, orchestrated campaigns against them, or personal attacks.

Our appetite or willingness to be easily triggered, offended, hurt, or outraged by opinions we do not share appears to be a result of several factors. These include a general incapacity by many of us to embrace the unfamiliar, to eschew haste in passing judgement, and to attack the thought rather than the thinker. Our extreme levels of intolerance are also, I think, a consequence of our deep-seated culture of subservience to authorities – rooted in a long history of personalised rule and social influences such as the degraded version of Christianity that we practice.

Added to the above factors that fuel intolerance is the uncritical assumption embraced by many that there exists a particular view on certain topics that is supported by the majority, against which dissent is prohibited. This is regrettable. Free speech is not just for the people or thoughts we like or agree with. Free speech is for everyone, even those we despise, with whom we disagree or who do not support what we do. It is for opinions that diverge from our own and includes the right to say things that other people may find controversial, irritating, uncomfortable, and even shocking.

We must all do what we can to defend free speech, to promote understanding and tolerance, and to expand rather than shrink free spaces for the expression of thought including dissent. We must fight for these expansions and not limitations, eliminations, blocking and all manner of anti-free speech behaviours. True believers in free speech are married to facts that are available to them at the material time and to the truth, objective truth as it exists independent of them, and so they hate to persist in error: this is only possible if their opinions or ideas are accessible to all those who care to reflect on them in whatever non-physical violent manner possible.

We all have the right to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds by any peaceful means, to express what we think, to agree or disagree with those in power, and to demand a better Zambia. Let free speech reign!