CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2023
| Author | Sirois, Ludovic |
|---|---|
| Title | One Man's Vulgarity is Another's Lyric: A Comparative Analysis of the Duty to Tolerate Offensive Speech in Canada, the United States, and South Africa |
| Summary | This thesis examines whether a functioning democracy's commitment to freedom of expression entails an individual duty to tolerate speech that some members of the political community find offensive. The inquiry is premised on the theory that public discourse benefits from the free exchange and competition of ideas. By analyzing judicial decisions from Canada, the United States, and South Africa in which courts have invoked a duty to tolerate offensive speech, this thesis establishes that the protection of free speech in a functioning democracy does entail such a duty. It argues that this duty plays a crucial role in protecting a robust and uninhibited public discourse by preventing the suppression of ideas by governments or individuals on the basis of the emotional reactions they may provoke in some individuals. Finally, through a comparative analysis of the approaches taken by the three jurisdictions examined, the thesis argues for the need to place reasonable limits on the duty to tolerate. |
| Supervisor | Uitz, Renáta |
| Department | Legal Studies LLM |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2023/sirois_ludovic.pdf |
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