Boundaries of Expression: The right to truth

Boundaries of Expression: The right to truth - Protection

Family members of the victims pose for a photograph following a news conference about the report on the fatal shootings of 10 people in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast in 1971 that involved the British Army, Ballymurphy, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 11 May 2021. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyn

In the first of ARTICLE 19’s podcasts exploring the limits and challenges to freedom of expression, journalist and writer Jo Glanville talks to María De Vecchi Gerli, right to truth and accountability co-ordinator for ARTICLE 19 Mexico and Central America, Satko Mujagić, a survivor of Omarska concentration camp, currently working at the European Commission,  and Sandra Peake, Chief Executive of WAVE Trauma Centre in Northern Ireland, about why the truth matters and what it takes to fight against impunity.  

This podcast is part of Boundaries of Expression, a new series of interventions from ARTICLE 19. Developed by guest editors, Boundaries of Expression is designed as a space for those working on freedom of expression to take a look at some of the most controversial and divisive issues of our time.

We have all seen the alarming increase in polarised views channelled through media platforms across the world. We have all questioned the rights of protesters during the pandemic, or considered the balance between security and surveillance. Can we find the right balance between culture and offensive  speech, or social movement work through disruptive protest ? How do we accommodate these issues within our global rights framework?   

Finding a common ground appears increasingly urgent as less ground appears available to us. While we are called upon to protect the values that have helped to shape free societies all over the world, we will hear from those on the frontline of some of the most complex spheres of expression today — and consider why their battles are our battles too.

Also read Jo Glanville’s essay for the series, ‘Why the right to truth matters’

 

Jo Glanville is editor of Looking for an Enemy: eight essays on antisemitism (Short Books). Her journalism has appeared in the Guardian, New York Times, Financial Times and London Review of Books, among other publications. She was an award-winning editor of Index on Censorship and a former director of English PEN.