The right of freedom of expression - StudioStar

I was invited, by the Braga Youth Centre, to participate in the podcast StudioStar - an European project of the network Council of Europe's quality labeled youth centres. In Braga, the project was coordinated by Joana Guerra Tadeu and explored the right of freedom of expression, how far that freedom should go and what value this human right has in Portugal. See the result of this true moment of freedom! 

Below, I explore a little more about the topic, focusing on my areas of interest:

 
👉 To me, freedom of expression is inherent to being a thinker; no matter how many restrictions we may try to impose on the formulation of opinions and their dissemination, the act will always be intrinsic to human nature itself and, therefore, it will be practically impossible to annihilate it. Practically impossible because we know that, in different areas of life, we are often coerced into remaining silent, under the penalty of being a target of vast consequences.

👉 Free communication, if well guided by democratic laws and codes of ethics, is essential for us to live in an informed, critical, open and fair society. In Portugal, we have this legal and ethical framework.

👉 According to the Portuguese Journalist Statute, "freedom of expression and creation", as well as "freedom of access to sources of information", are part of the fundamental rights of journalists. Furthermore, it is a duty of journalists to "repudiate censorship or other illegitimate forms of limiting freedom of expression and the right to inform". Likewise, the Code of Ethics for Journalists reinforces that "journalists must fight against restrictions on access to sources of information and attempts to limit freedom of expression and the right to inform".

👉 Despite this legal and moral context, we know that journalists often find themselves conditioned in the exercise of their functions. Nowadays, information sources are increasingly professionalized and outline insightful strategies to make the most of their relationships with journalists, whether the information transmitted is true or not. Although journalists should question themselves about the content that is transmitted by these sources, faced with small newsrooms and an entrenchment of immediacy, that is practically impossible - especially because, to a certain extent, journalists could be fired for not reaching the established goals by their superiors. The only way to counter this reality would, in fact, be to invest in Slow Journalism.

👉 I was asked whether, by limiting the production of fake news and misinformation, we would be limiting freedom of expression. I promptly responded - No! I do not believe that by limiting the production of fake news and misinformation we are limiting freedom of expression. We are just doing the work of communication. Above all, it is important to invest in media literacy - providing the population with tools to distinguish true information from fake information or partially true information.

You can watch the remaining episodes at Spotify.