An expert in media ethics from Charles Sturt University (CSU) has supported the Attorney-General of Australia, Ms Nicola Roxon, MP, in her call for greater balance in laws regarding discrimination and harassment in the media.

 

Media ethicist with the University’s Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Dr Edward Spence, explains that from an ethical perspective, Ms Roxon was entirely right in comments  published in The Australian newspaper yesterday, 10 January, on legislation to be put before the Australian parliament.

 

In this opinion piece, Ms Roxon said that using laws to ensure people are treated fairly and their rights protected inevitably involves a balancing act, between the right to be free from discrimination and harassment and the right to freedom of speech.

 

“Since laws normally follow ethics in their development and evolution, the new legislation proposed by Ms Roxon seems to be on the right side of justice. For freedom to something it must be balanced with freedom from something,” Dr Spence said.

 

“For example, freedom of speech must be balanced with freedom from harm that may result from such speech. It is never justified to use free speech as a reason for expressing views that result in vilification and harassment of others simply because of their religion, race, ethnicity, age or gender, because the right to free speech is not absolute but merely prima facie.”

 

Dr Spence believes free speech cannot override other legitimate competing rights, such as the right not to be unjustly harmed.

 

“Words that humiliate and degrade others may not break bones but they can be just as hurtful and harmful as physical acts, and in some cases, more so. There have been notable recent cases of young people taking their own lives after being subjected to online bullying and harassment. Words that humiliate and degrade, reducing people’s sense of self-esteem and dignity, can be deadly,” he said.

 

“If there is one human right that deserves the status of an absolute right, it is the right to human dignity. Respecting the dignity of others regardless of how different they are to us and irrespective of whether we like them or not is the cornerstone of civilization. 

 

“And civilization is not only threatened by extreme evils like the Jewish Holocaust, it is also threatened by the small and everyday indecencies and humiliations we sometimes purposely or thoughtlessly subject others through our unkind and misspoken words,” Dr Spence said.