The globalisation of free speech: a race to the top or the bottom?

A famous phrase for justifying the limits on free speech arises from the US Supreme Court on the US's First Amendment in Schenck v US in 1919: one is not allowed to yell "fire" in a crowded theatre lest one cause a riot (unless of course there is a fire). Perhaps it may be argued that these days, one shouldn't be allowed to yell "fire" in a crowded planet. Maybe States should take into account the dangers of speech causing riots within but also beyond their own territory.

However, routine censorship in such circumstances would drive a race to the bottom for free speech. The internet has generally been thought of as an emancipating force for global free speech. It would be ironic and very disturbing if its advent drives a push for the compulsory adoption of lower standards of free speech in order to respect regional sensitivities.

More likely is that the internet will move beyond its global phase into a regional phase, where States reassert control over local internet content. Technological advancements now allow major platforms like Twitter and YouTube to selectively censor in different markets. Famously, China blocks numerous sites outside of its "great firewall". Recently, Iran blocked access to Google in possible preparation for the launch of a national intranet which may be largely cut off from the world wide web, its promised "halal internet".

Reverse cultural relativism

The current UN debate will likely lead to a renewal of the OIC's push for the recognition of "defamation of religion" as a human rights issue. Non-binding resolutions in support of "defamation of religion" as a human rights concept were routinely passed by the UN Human Rights Council and its predecessor until 2011, when it was withdrawn, presumably because the shrinking majority in favour of the resolution was about to turn into a minority. The universal disgust over the content ofThe Innocence of Muslims may reinvigorate the resolution, and restore a majority in favour.

This battle over free speech introduces a new twist to debates over "cultural relativism" within the international human rights system. Cultural relativist arguments have traditionally arisen when non-Western countries attempt to resist the recognition of co-called "Western" human rights standards, for example those regarding women's rights, same sex rights, political freedoms, or the death penalty. (The last example demonstrates that it is in fact simplistic to view human rights as Western concepts given the US is one of the most prolific remaining users of the death penalty).

In arguing for compulsory global blasphemy laws, the OIC is appropriating the language of human rights in an attempt to impose its blasphemy standards on other countries. And the West could find itself in a cultural minority resisting this development within the UN by defending freedom of expression. The battle over free speech poses a major challenge to the integrity of the international human rights system, and to claims of its underlying universality.