Arab Spring and Free Speech

Arab Spring and Free Speech (CNN)

This video, from February 22^nd of this year, chronicles the Arab Spring’s battle with censorship as many countries are restricting the free speech rights of journalists and newscasters. Clips of the revolutions from Cairo, Benghazi, and Tunisia are showcased while the narrator of the video, Michael Holmes, talks about censorship in the Middle East. One reporter, Shahira Amin, took matters into her own hands and stepped down from her position as senior anchor and deputy head of Egypt’s state run “Nile TV” after being fed up with the censorship she had to comply with during her reporting. She is quoted in the video saying, “I felt that we were not telling the story… and that’s why I stepped down.” The video goes on to speak of smaller run, private news companies throughout the Middle East that use self-censorship in order to appease the regimes they operate under.
       It should come as no surprise that the revolutionists in these volatile areas are being met with censorship, which is a direct violation of the Universal Bill of Human Rights. However, as we watch the Arab Spring unfold with more countries rising up against their governments, it is important to remember that we are not seeing the full story, only what the regimes controlling journalism are letting through to us, or, in some cases, the news that is leaked against the will of these regimes. The Arab Spring has undoubtedly helped many countries on their route to freedom, but, as long as these countries are restricting the basic rights of their citizens, the road to true freedom is still paved with hardship.