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Title page of Index Librorum Prohibitorum, or List of Prohibited Books

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Title page of Index Librorum Prohibitorum, or List of Prohibited Books

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-The Index Expurgatorius is the most famous and long lasting example of "bad books" catalogues issued by the Roman Catholic Church, which presumed to be in authority over private thoughts and opinions, and suppressed views that went against its doctrines
-The Index Expurgatorius was administered by the Roman Inquisition, but enforced by local government authorities, and went through 300 editions
-Amongst others, it banned or censored books written by René Descartes, Giordano Bruno, Galileo Galilei, David Hume, John Locke, Daniel Defoe, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Voltaire

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-in 1501 Pope Alexander VI issued a Bill against the unlicensed printing of books and in 1559 the Index Expurgatorius, or List of Prohibited Books, was issued for the first time

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-the origins of copyright law in most European countries lie in efforts by the Roman Catholic Church and governments to regulate and control the output of printers

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-printing allowed for multiple exact copies of a work, leading to a more rapid and widespread circulation of ideas and information

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-in response to the printing press, and the theological heresies it allowed to spread, the Roman Catholic Church moved to impose censorship

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- no elaborate system of censorship and control over scribes existed, who until the 14th century were restricted to religious institutions, and their works rarely caused wider controversy

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-before the invention of the printing press, a written work, once created, could only be physically multiplied by highly laborious and error-prone manual copying

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-the concept of freedom of information has emerged in response to state sponsored censorship, monitoring and surveillance of the internet
-internet censorship includes the control or suppression of the publishing or accessing of information on the Internet

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-may also refer to the right to privacy in the context of the Internet and information technology, as with the right to freedom of expression, the right to privacy is a recognised human right and freedom of information acts as an extension to this right
-freedom of information may also concern censorship in an information technology context, i.e. the ability to access Web content, without censorship or restrictions

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-freedom of information is an extension of freedom of speech where the medium of expression is the Internet

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- The Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996 was the first major attempt by the United States Congress to regulate pornographic material on the Internet
-in 1997, in the landmark cyberlaw case of Reno v. ACLU, the US Supreme Court partially overturned the law

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-Jo Glanville, editor of the Index on Censorship, states that "the Internet has been a revolution for censorship as much as for free speech"
-international, national and regional standards recognise that freedom of speech, as one form of freedom of expression, applies to any medium, including the Internet

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-In 1999, Bernard Harcourt wrote of the collapse of the harm principle: "Today the debate is characterized by a cacophony of competing harm arguments without any way to resolve them

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-in 1985, Joel Feinberg introduced what is known as the "offence principle"
-Hence Feinberg argues that the harm principle sets the bar too high and that some forms of expression can be legitimately prohibited by law because they are very offensive
-Jasper Doomen argued that harm should be defined from the point of view of the individual citizen, not limiting harm to physical harm since nonphysical harm may also be involved

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-in On Liberty (1859), John Stuart Mill argued that "...there ought to exist the fullest liberty of professing and discussing, as a matter of ethical conviction, any doctrine, however immoral it may be considered
-Mill argues that the fullest liberty of expression is required to push arguments to their logical limits, rather than the limits of social embarrassment

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- justifications for limitations to freedom of speech often reference the "harm principle" or the "offence principle"
-limitations to freedom of speech may occur through legal sanction or social disapprobation, or both

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-legal systems sometimes recognise certain limits on or to the freedom of speech, particularly when freedom of speech conflicts with other rights and freedoms, such as in the cases of libel, slander, pornography, obscenity, fighting words, and intellectual property
-in Europe, blasphemy is a limitation to free speech

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-research undertaken by the Worldwide Governance Indicators project at the World Bank, indicates that freedom of speech, and the process of accountability that follows it, have a significant impact in the quality of governance of a country

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-he argues that "The principle of open discussion is a method of achieving a more adaptable and at the same time more stable community, of maintaining the precarious balance between healthy cleavage and necessary consensus"
-Emerson furthermore maintains that "Opposition serves a vital social function in offsetting or ameliorating normal process of bureaucratic decay"

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-Thomas I. Emerson expanded on this defence when he argued that freedom of speech helps to provide a balance between stability and change

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-Eric Barendt has called this defence of free speech on the grounds of democracy "probably the most attractive and certainly the most fashionable free speech theory in modern Western democracies

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-according to Meiklejohn, democracy will not be true to its essential ideal if those in power are able to manipulate the electorate by withholding information and stifling criticism
-Meiklejohn acknowledges that the desire to manipulate opinion can stem from the motive of seeking to benefit society

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- he has argued that the concept of democracy is that of self-government by the people

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-one of the most notable proponents of the link between freedom of speech and democracy is Alexander Meiklejohn

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-freedom of speech is understood to be fundamental in a democracy
-the norms on limiting freedom of expression mean that public debate may not be completely suppressed even in times of emergency

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-the right to freedom of expression is also related to the right to a fair trial and court proceeding which may limit access to the search for information, or determine the opportunity and means in which freedom of expression is manifested within court proceedings
-as a general principle freedom of expression may not limit the right to privacy, as well as the honor and reputation of others
-however greater latitude is given when criticism of public figures is involved

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-the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, adopted during the French Revolution in 1789, specifically affirmed freedom of speech as an inalienable right
-adopted in 1791, freedom of speech is a feature of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution

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-one of the world's first freedom of the press acts was introduced in Sweden in 1766, mainly due to classical liberal member of parliament, Ostrobothnian priest, Anders Chydenius
-excepted and liable to prosecution was only vocal opposition to the King and the Church of Sweden

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-concepts of freedom of speech can be found in early human rights documents England's Bill of Rights 1689 legally established the constitutional right of freedom of speech in Parliament which is still in effect

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-freedom of speech and expression has a long history that predates modern international human rights instruments
-it is thought that the ancient Athenian democratic principle of free speech may have emerged in the late 6th or early 5th century BC
-the values of the Roman Republic included freedom of speech and freedom of religion

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-freedom of speech and expression, therefore, may not be recognized as being absolute, and common limitations or boundaries to freedom of speech relate to libel, slander, obscenity, pornography, sedition, incitement, fighting words, classified information, copyright violation, trade secrets, food labeling, non-disclosure agreements, the right to privacy, dignity, the right to be forgotten, public security, and perjury

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-the version of Article 19 in the ICCPR later amends this by stating that the exercise of these rights carries "special duties and responsibilities" and may "therefore be subject to certain restrictions" when necessary  respect of the rights or reputation of others" or the protection of national security or of public order (order public), or of public health or morals"

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-article 19 of the UDHR states that "everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference" and "everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice"

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-is recognized as a human right under article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and recognized in international human rights law in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

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-the term "freedom of expression" is sometimes used synonymously but includes any act of seeking, receiving, and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used

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- is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction