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We Should No Longer Tolerate Obstruction of Freedom of Speech
Here’s why.
It is frequent in Belgium to see students blocking the coming of speakers whose politics they disagree with to prevent them from expressing their ideas.
So far, the press has always supported them for their “bravery”, but as the political vibe is shifting, the same behavior has begun to cause frustration rather than admiration.
Tolerance of obstruction of freedom of speech is problematic in many regards but especially because restricting others from exercising their right is, in general, punishable.
Restriction of freedom of movement, for example, can lead to incarceration.
The reason for such a heavy punishment isn’t as much the fact that sequestration is a violent crime, but that the restriction of a legal right, whichever it may be, is a big enough offense for the criminal to be put away for a while.
A right is a right for the specific reason that its enjoyment is guaranteed by law, and impeding it is necessarily unlawful, leading, logically, to punishment.
No matter how it is explained, obstructing someone’s right to speech is as big of a, if not a bigger, crime, than any other impediment to any other right.
