Freedom of Speech (2019)
Something that I find interesting is that in the Netherlands no one talks about “<i>freedom of speech</i>”, rather, what is spoken of is “<i>freedom to express opinions</i>” — this different phrasing putting the focus not on the broad “speech” but the more narrow “opinion” seems to color the discourse differently.<p>For instance, the <i>fire in a crowded theatre</i>-argument has no meaning in that reference, for it is not an opinion; whether there be fire is a fact.<p>Pornography could also not be made legal by it, as it expresses no opinion.<p>In reality however, the Dutch constitution does not guarantee freedom to expression opinions unknown to much of the population, it merely prohibits the government from enacting præventive censorship with the exception of commercial advertisements and broadcasts aimed at minors — it is allowed to censor <i>post factum</i>.