The aim of this study is to investigate womens freedom of speech in the democratic country Nigeria. Furthermore, what other sociodemograhic factor of gender, education level and religious belonging being either majority or minority having the greatest effect on freedom of speech. The approach to be able to study the phenomenons will take on a quantative method to search for the answers to the research questions. The study will also be based on a case study of the country Nigeria located in the African continent. To conduct the research and hypotheses the study will test various theories explanatory assumptions. The idea and goal of the study is to enrich the research on how freedom of speech complies for women in african democratic countries such as Nigeria by analysing their estimation on the freedom of speech. Cross tabulations and multiple linear regressions are performed to see the phenomenons over time since the democratisation 1999 to 2021. The conclusions that can be drawn based on the evidence that was found was that gender affects grading of the freedom of speech in different ways over time, some years for example 1999, 2015 and 2021 women perceived freedom of speech worse than men and 2008 showed the opposite. The effect variabel seeming to affect the outcome variabel freedom of speech to the greatest extent the study can conclude from various analysments to be religion.

Uppsatsen behandlar hur den ryska televisionen behandlas av den ryska staten och vilken betydelse detta fått för yttrandefriheten i Ryssland. Uppsatsen fokuserar på tiden mellan president Putins första och andra presidentval (1999-2000). Den ryska staten har under denna tid kritiserats från många håll då den statliga kontrollen över televisionen kraftigt ökat. Uppsatsen försöker reda ut hur detta ökade statliga inflytande påverkat mediaföretagen och hur detta i sin tur påverkat den nyhetsbevakning den ryska allmänheten fått ta del av. Uppsatsen ger också en historisk beskrivning av hur televisionen förändrats från Sovjetunionens fall fram till idag. Vidare används TV-stationen NTV och dess ägare, som en fallstudie av hur mediaföretag behandlats av den ryska staten. Uppsatsen visar också på hur televisionen bevakat presidentvalen 2000 och 2004 och hur detta påverkat utgången av valen. Tillsist sammanförs uppsatsens delar i en diskussion om hur ägandet av televisionen påverkar dess utbud och i förlängningen hur det påverkar televisionens publik. / This essay deals with how the Russian television has been treated by the Russian state and how this has affected the freedom of opinion in Russia. The essay focuses on the time between the first and second presidential election of president Putin (2000-2004). The Russian state has during this time been heavily criticised by many because of the increasing influence the government has over the Russian television. This essay tries to find out how this increasing state influence has affected the broadcasting companies and how this has influenced the newscasts. This essay also gives a historical overview of how the Russian television has changed since the Soviet Union’s downfall until today. Furthermore the TV-station NTV and its owners are examined as a special case of how the broadcasting companies are treated by the Russian government. The essay also shows how TV covered the presidential elections in 2000 and 2004 and how their coverage affected the election results. Finally the parts of the essay are brought together in a discussion about how the ownership of television influences the range of news and thereby its audience.

The purpose of the thesis is to examine the relation between art, politics and ideology in contemporary art, focusing on the drawings depicting Mohammed the prophet as a dog, made by the Swedish artist Lars Vilks. His work is contextual in accordance with current art practice, thus letting everything related to the artwork become part of it, a circumstance the thesis tries to grasp in the widest respect possible. The drawings were published and spread throughout Swedish media, where they were later defended and criticized by a number of writers. Many debaters argued that the art work represents Western freedom of speech, and that to criticize them is to criticize fundamental democratic rights. This discourse tended to disqualify all arguments that questioned why such force was put into defending and spreading offensive pictures. The freedom of speech argument got a central position and much of the debate got stuck in confirming its value rather than discussing the meaning of the work. The thesis shows that the use of democratic freedoms as a tool and an argument for rejecting other cultural viewpoints, democratic or not, follows the liberal tradition of thought from the period of the Enlightenment and on. The artist, Lars Vilks is a professor in art theory. The thesis examines his view on contemporary art and his argument that works of art exist in a special discourse – the Art World, even if it affects millions of people in their everyday lives, and even if the effects of the art work is comparable to a successful islamofobic campaign. The analysis of the context also takes into account that this took place in Sweden, a country which already has significant problems with discrimination of Muslims. The art work can therefore be seen as a potent political tool, which becomes elusive due to its status as art.

No description available.

No description available.

I en demokrati är yttrandefriheten en grundbult. Men ett demokratiskt samhälle innefattar även religionsfriheten, som skyddar individers eller gruppers rättighet att utöva religion. Religiösa utövare placerar ofta religionen över allt annat och individens frihet att yttra sig uppfattas därmed som sekundärt. Det resulterar ofta i att religion blir måltavla för kränkande yttringar, något som av de religiösa uppfattas som otillåtligt. Den 19 augusti 2007 publicerades Lars Vilks blyertsteckning ”Profeten Muhammed som rondellhund.” Karikatyren spred sig snabbt och extremister placerade Vilks på sin officiella dödslista. Vilks testar gränser och de religiösa reagerar, ett tydligt exempel på den turbulens som kan skapas mellan yttrandefrihet och religionsfrihet. Genom en analys av de argument som förs fram i debatten om Lars Vilks, är vårt syfte att skapa en ökad förståelse för det ambivalenta förhållandet mellan yttrandefrihet och religionsfrihet. Vår frågeställning består av två delar: Vilka är de mest frekventa för- och motargumenten som förs fram i debatten kring Lars Vilks i samband med yttrandefrihet och religionsfrihet? Hur kan vi, genom dessa för- och motargument, skapa förståelse för det ambivalenta förhållandet mellan yttrandefrihet och religionsfrihet? Studien bygger på en argumentationsanalys, som fokuserar på debatten om Lars Vilks i samband med yttrandefrihet och religionsfrihet. Empirin utgörs av 62 åsiktsartiklar, hämtade från tidningarna Dagens Nyheter och Expressen från åren 2007, 2010 samt 2015. För att ha ett påstående att förhålla oss till urskilde vi vår huvudtes: Religion får inte inskränka yttrandefriheten i en demokrati. Utifrån det identifierade vi fyra argument som understödjer tesen: I en demokrati får man kränka religion, Ett demokratiskt samhälle ska inte tystas av hot och rädsla, Yttrandefriheten är grundläggande i en demokrati och Religion måste utmanas för att samhället ska utvecklas, samt två som undergräver tesen: Yttranden om religion bör inte användas omdömeslöst och Yttrandefrihet ska inte utnyttjas i syfte att kränka religion. Anhängarna argumenterar för att alla åsikter får yttras. En vädring av obekväma yttranden anses vara avgörande för det demokratiska samhället. Opponenterna anser att oförnuftiga yttranden leder till ett mer konfliktfyllt samhälle och att de därför bör begränsas. Det ambivalenta förhållandet belyses extra i och med att majoriteten argumenterar för att yttrandefriheten är grundläggande i en demokrati, men att utlåtanden kräver ett personligt ansvar. Det personliga ansvaret är dock subjektivt, och en gränsdragning för vad som bör och inte bör sägas blir svår, framför allt i ett samhälle som känner sig hotat av extremister. För att förstå det ambivalenta förhållandet mellan yttrandefrihet och religionsfrihet är det nödvändigt att begripa konflikten mellan de legala rättigheterna och de moraliska förpliktelserna.

The aim of this study is to research freedom of expression and its content and value. The focus has been to find answers to where freedom of expression has its limits, if it has any. This study has three aims: to research what freedom of expression means; to research the arguments for it; and to research if there are any limits to freedom of expression. Due to the aim of understanding the limits for freedom of expression, two questions regarding whether freedom of expression shall be restricted by prohibiting racist organisations and hate speech are being answered. Political philosophers Ronald Dworkin, Elena Namli, Thomas Scanlon, and Jeremy Waldron’s theories on the limits of freedom of expression are analyzed through the eyes of the theorists John Stuart Mill and Isaiah Berlin. My conclusion from the research is that freedom of expression should not be limited by forbidding racist organisations, but instead that it shall be limited by prohibiting hate speech.

Digitalization is spreading wide throughout society. The open, and free, internet equals new possibilities – but also difficulties regarding freedom of speech and development of democracy. According to research, an increasingly rougher tone of the debate may lead to people avoiding expressing their opinions; causing a polarization in the democratic conversation. This influence on the democratic development has become a social problem. According to Swedish library act, public libraries are to support free opinion formation and democratic development of the society. This study aims to examine the Swedish public libraries perception of responsibility regarding a sustainable web climate; based on the theoretical perspective of social responsibility. Based on a thematic analysis, from the results of five semi-structured interviews, it was evident that the public libraries were able to identify problems surrounding the web climate’s influence on freedom of speech and the democratic conversation. The majority of the respondents were also positive towards discussing sustainable web climate, in relation to the defined responsibilities of the public libraries. Still, none of the public libraries are currently involving sustainable web climate on any official or defined basis in their everyday work. Nevertheless, certain involvement of this topic may occur. In order include this task in their future activities, the public libraries inquire distinct guidelines and priorities from higher instance. The result of this study also illuminates that the problems surrounding the internet should be highlighted in a more distinct perspective of democracy.

Is social media a human right? The first of July 2018 the Ugandan government implemented a new tax on social media, called “Over-The-Top” tax which includes over 60 social media platforms. The tax needs to be paid before entering the social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Whatsapp. The tax can be paid through a daily, weekly, monthly or through a fee every year. The reason for the tax according to the president Yoweri Museveni is to boost the government revenue and to end “lugambo”, gossip on social media. The aim of this thesis is to analyze whether the tax is violating human right and specially freedom of speech. The hypothesis of the thesis is that the OTT-tax is a cumbrance to people’s right to freedom of speech. The thesis concludes that freedom of speech is a negative right which means freedom from state influence. African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights(ACHPR) and the Banjul charter is defining freedom of speech such as every individual shall have the right to receive information, right to expression and to disseminate his opinion. ACHPR has also chosen to get inspiration from the UN which has established that internet is included in freedom of speech, rights which exists offline shall also exists online. Social media has served as an important tool throughout different occasion such as the #Metoo campaign, Arabic spring and through domestic´s events in Uganda as “Save Mabire” and #FreeBobiWine. Through argumentation analysis are the arguments for and against OTT-tax reviewed to verify or falsify the thesis hypothesis and the question formulation. The thesis concludes that the president´s arguments are neither solid or evidence-based and can thereby not falsify the hypothesis. The arguments against the OTT-tax are however solid and evidence-based and gets support from international law, therefore confirms the thesis hypothesis. The thesis concludes that there is a restriction on freedom of speech due to the OTT-tax since less people are able to access social media after the introduction of the tax.

The focus of this master thesis is the library politics of the French Right wing party the National Front and the debate that followed the application of this politics. This qualitative study is divided into two parts where the critics to this politics represents one side and the adherents the other. The critics are composed by representatives from the French, Swedish and – to some extent – international library sector, while the adherent side is made up of politicians from the National Front and their adherents. The empiric material mostly consists of articles published in library, Right wing and daily press. The aim is to investigate to what extent the ideas proposed by opponents and adherents correspond to basic ideological elements of deliberative democracy respectively populism. The documents have been interpreted with an ideology analysis formulated by Herbert Tingsten and developed by Sven-Erik Liedman. In the analysis the results are also associated with the history and the role of the public library as well as the cultural politics of the National Front. The result of this study discloses that the ideas of the critics as well as those of the adherents correspond to a large extent to respective ideology, thou certain aspects contradict them. The opinions of the critic side are also shown to be closely related to those presented in documents concerning the role of the public library. Seen in a broader context, the library politics of the National Front could be considered as part of a cultural strategy. / Uppsatsnivå: D