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Article 23 of the [[Probable year:: 1973]] Bahamian Constitution states that:
“Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of this Article to the extent that the law in question makes provision which is reasonably required for the purposes of protecting the rights, reputations and freedoms of other persons, preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, maintaining the authority and independence of the courts, or regulating telephony, telegraphy, posts, wireless broadcasting, television, public exhibitions or public entertainment” (Constitute Project, “Bahamas (The)'s Constitution of [[Probable year:: 1973]]” ). +
Article 20 of The Gambia’s [[Probable year:: 1965]] Constitution protected “freedom to receive ideas and information without interference, freedom to communicate ideas and information without interference (whether the communication be to the public generally or to any person or class of persons) and freedom from interference with his correspondence” under its protection of freedom of expression (Citizenship Rights Africa, “The Gambia Independence Order [[Probable year:: 1965]]” ).
Today, Article 25 of The Gambia’s [[Probable year:: 1996]] Constitution guarantees that “Every person shall have the right to… freedom of speech and expression, which shall include freedom of the press and other media” (Constitute Project, “Gambia (The)'s Constitution of [[Probable year:: 1996]] with Amendments through [[Probable year:: 2004]]” ). +
Article 12 of Togo’s [[Probable year:: 1963]] Constitution first protected press freedom: “Everyone has the right to express and freely disseminate their opinions through speech, pen and image in compliance with laws and regulations” (World Digital Library, “Constitution de la Republique Togolaise”). [Translated from French]
Today, Article 26 of Togo’s [[Probable year:: 1992]] Constitution protects press freedom: “The freedom of the press is recognized and guaranteed by the State. It is protected by the law" (Constitute Project, “Togo’s Constitution of [[Probable year:: 1992]] with Amendments through [[Probable year:: 2007]]” ). +
Article 7 of Tonga’s [[Probable year:: 1875]] Constitution protects press freedom: “It shall be lawful for all people to speak write and print their opinions and no law shall ever be enacted to restrict this liberty. There shall be freedom of speech and of the press for ever but nothing in this clause shall be held to outweigh the law of slander or the laws for the protection of the King and the Royal Family" (Constitute Project, “Tonga’s Constitution of [[Probable year:: 1875]] with Amendments through [[Probable year:: 2013]]” ). +
Transcendentalism and Freedom of the Press
To the transcendentalists, the matters of self-cultivation and social change were integral to the flourishing of the soul. Part and parcel of this process of becoming a self that is in harmony with natural divinity and a unity with itself is the discovery and articulation of truth as it is experienced by the individual. Transcendentalists engaged in lectures, discussions, and publication of ideas in intellectual circles throughout New England. The focus on issues of politics, religion, and the rights of human beings came into the public sphere through journals, newspapers, and other periodicals that published the works of various transcendentalist thinkers. (Andrews).
A famous example, though almost entirely inconsequential at the time, of transcendentalist use of free expression was Henry David Thoreau’s tax evasion. Thoreau had stopped paying his taxes in 1842 as a means of protesting slavery and the looming conflict of the Mexican-American War. When the war had actually broken out, Thoreau publicly made his anti-war position known, and was promptly prosecuted for his tax evasion, which had been more or less condoned by local authorities until his opposition to the war. Thoreau spent just one night in jail before an anonymous relative paid his due taxes, but the experience paved the way for his justification for his actions in 1849 with “Civil Disobedience” (or “Resistance to Civil Government” as it was titled before his death).
The role of transcendentalists in publishing in intellectual, activist, and abolitionist circles in New England also contributed to the importance of a right to free press and expression in the transcendentalist tradition. Notably, William Lloyd Garrison’s newspaper, the Liberator, was the source of abolitionist content as it related to the intersection of the cultivation of the self, theology, and spirituality more broadly.
This sentiment is further demonstrated in the works of one of the transcendental writers at the forefront of the intellectual movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson. In his essay “The Poet,” Emerson makes a call for an artist to express candidly the truth of the experience of nature and goodness, but also makes reference to the imperative of sharing and publishing such a thing. He writes:
“The breadth of the problem is great, for the poet is representative. He stands among partial men for the complete man, and apprises us not of his wealth, but of the commonwealth. The young man reveres men of genius, because, to speak truly, they are more himself than he is. They receive of the soul as he also receives, but they more. […] For all men live by truth, and stand in need of expression. In love, in art, in avarice, in politics, in labor, in games, we study to utter our painful secret. The man is only half himself, the other half is his expression. Notwithstanding this necessity to be published, adequate expression is rare.”
For Emerson, who is serving here as mouthpiece for the transcendental movement more broadly, the use of a free press and publication are essential to becoming ourselves. That’s a fairly esoteric concept, but the broader point stands that the free press is an essential and productive thing for society.
References:
Andrews, Barry M. Transcendentalism and the Cultivation of the Soul. University of Massachusetts Press, 2017. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv35q8sj.
Ralph Waldo Emerson. “The Poet” (https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/emerson/essays/poet.html)
Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience”
Chapter 1, Part 1 of Trinidad and Tobago’s [[Probable year:: 1976]] Constitution protects press freedom: “It is hereby recognised and declared that in Trinidad and Tobago there have existed and shall continue to exist, without discrimination by reason of race, origin, colour, religion or sex, the following fundamental human rights and freedoms, namely…freedom of the press" (Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, "CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO ACT"). +
Article 8 of Tunisia’s [[Probable year:: 1959]] Constitution first protected press freedom: “Freedom of opinion, expression, press, publication, assembly and association are guaranteed and exercised according to the terms defined by the law" (Constitute Project, "Tunisia [[Probable year:: 1959]] (rev. [[Probable year:: 2008]]) ").
Article 31 of Tunisia’s [[Probable year:: 2014]] Constitution protects press freedom: “Freedom of opinion, thought, expression, information and publication shall be guaranteed. These freedoms shall not be subject to prior censorship" (Constitute Project, “Tunisia’s Constitution of [[Probable year:: 2014]]” ). +
Article 12 of the Ottoman Constitution of [[Probable year:: 1876]] first protected press freedom in modern-day Turkey: “The press is free, within limits imposed by law" (The Individualisation of War, "The Ottoman Constitution").
Today, Article 26 of Turkey’s [[Probable year:: 1982]] Constitution protects press freedom: “Everyone has the right to express and disseminate his/her thoughts and opinions by speech, in writing or in pictures or through other media, individually or collectively. This freedom includes the liberty of receiving or imparting information or ideas without interference by official authorities. This provision shall not preclude subjecting transmission by radio, television, cinema, or similar means to a system of licensing" (Constitute Project, “Turkey’s Constitution of [[Probable year:: 1982]] with Amendments through [[Probable year:: 2017]]” ). +
Article 42 of Turkmenistan’s [[Probable year:: 1992]] Constitution protects press freedom: “Everyone shall have the right to free search of information and to receive and disseminate information in ways not prohibited by law, if it is not a state or other secret protected by law" (Constitute Project, “Turkmenistan’s Constitution of [[Probable year:: 2008]] with Amendments through [[Probable year:: 2016]]” ). +
Article 24 of Tuvalu’s [[Probable year:: 1986]] Constitution protects press freedom as a part of freedom of expression: “For the purposes of this section, freedom of expression includes… freedom to hold opinions without interference; and freedom to receive ideas and information without interference; and freedom to communicate ideas and information without interference; and freedom from interference with correspondence" (Constitute Project, “Tuvalu’s Constitution of [[Probable year:: 1986]] with Amendments through [[Probable year:: 2010]]” ). +
Article 26 of Uganda’s [[Probable year:: 1962]] Constitution alluded to press freedom protection in its protection of freedom of expression, but did not explicitly mention it (World Statesmen, "Uganda Constitutional Instruments").
Today, Article 29 of Uganda’s [[Probable year:: 1995]] Constitution protects press freedom: “Every person shall have the right to…freedom of speech and expression, which shall include freedom of the press and other media" (Constitute Project, “Uganda’s Constitution of [[Probable year:: 1995]] with Amendments through [[Probable year:: 2017]]” ). +
Article 34 of Ukraine’s [[Probable year:: 1996]] Constitution protects press freedom: “Everyone has the right to freely collect, store, use and disseminate information by oral, written or other means of his or her choice" (Refworld, Constitution of Ukraine"). +
Articles 30 and 31 of the UAE’s [[Probable year:: 1971]] Constitution protect freedom of expression and communication, but do not explicitly protect press freedom: “Freedom to hold opinions and express them orally, in writing or by other means of expression shall be guaranteed within the limits of the law… Freedom of communication by means of the posts, telegraph or other means of communication and their secrecy shall be guaranteed in accordance with the law" (Constitute Project, “Ukraine’s Constitution of [[Probable year:: 1996]] with Amendments through [[Probable year:: 2016]]” ). +
The United Kingdom has no formal protection of press freedom. The closest legal form of legal recognition of freedom of the press, however, is in Article 10 of the Human Rights Act of [[Probable year:: 1998]], which states “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers" (The National Archives, "Human Rights Act [[Probable year:: 1998]]" ). +
Freedom of the press is protected under the First Amendment of the US Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" (Constitution Annotated, "First Amendment"). +
Article 141 of Uruguay’s [[Probable year:: 1830]] Constitution first protected press freedom: “The communication of thoughts by words, private writings, or published by the press in all matters is entirely free, without the need for prior censorship; the author being responsible, and where appropriate the printer, for the abuses they commit, in accordance with the law" (Republica Oriental de Uruguay, "Constitucion de la Republica," [[Probable year:: 1830]]) . [Translated from Spanish]
Article 29 of Uruguay’s [[Probable year:: 1967]] Constitution protects press freedom: “The communication of thoughts is entirely free in all matters, by words, private writings or published in the press, or by any another form of disclosure, without the need for prior censorship" (Centro de Informacion Oficial, "Constitucion de la Republica," [[Probable year:: 1967]]) . +
Article 67 of Uzbekistan’s [[Probable year:: 1992]] Constitution protects press freedom: “The mass media shall be free and act in accordance with law. It shall bear responsibility for trustworthiness of information in a prescribed manner" (Constitute Project, "Uzbekistan's Constitution of [[Probable year:: 1992]] with Amendments through [[Probable year:: 2011]]" ). +
Vanuatu’s [[Probable year:: 1980]] Constitution does not formally protect press freedom, but does protect freedom of expression (Constitute Project, "Vanuatu's Constitution of [[Probable year:: 1980]] with Amendments through [[Probable year:: 2013]]" ). Observers recognize that, historically, “the government generally respects freedom of the press" (Freedom House, "Vanuatu"). +
The 1811 "Declaration of Rights, by the Supreme Congress of Venezuela," at Article 4 under the "Rights of Man in Society" section, states: "The right to declare their thoughts and opinions, through the medium of the press, is unrestrained and free, under responsibility to the Law, for any violation of the public tranquillity, or the religious opinions, property and honour of the Citizen."
Today, Article 57 of Venezuela’s [[Probable year:: 1999]] Constitution protects press freedom: “Everyone has the right to express freely his or her thoughts, ideas or opinions orally, in writing or by any other form of expression, and to use for such purpose any means of communication and diffusion, and no censorship shall be established. Anyone making use of this right assumes full responsibility for everything expressed" (Constitute Project, Venezuela's Constitution of [[Probable year:: 1999]] with Amendments through [[Probable year:: 2009]]) .
References:
English translation of the Spanish original text of the Declaration of Rights of 1811. 1105 (2011)
Rights of Man in Society: https://heinonline-org.proxygw.wrlc.org/HOL/Page?collection=cow&handle=hein.cow/zzve0002&id=2&men_tab=srchresults
https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Venezuela_2009?lang=en. +
Article 10 of Vietnam’s [[Probable year:: 1946]] Constitution first protected press freedom: “A Vietnamese citizen has the rights to freedoms… of the press" (Bloomsbury, "Vietnam Constitution [[Probable year:: 1946]]" ).
Article 25 of Vietnam’s [[Probable year:: 1992]] Constitution protects press freedom: “The citizen shall enjoy the right to freedom of opinion and speech, freedom of the press, to access to information, to assemble, form associations and hold demonstrations. The practice of these rights shall be provided by the law" (Constitute Project, “Vietnam’s Constitution of [[Probable year:: 1992]] with Amendments through [[Probable year:: 2013]]” ). +