Freedom of speech and freedom of the press in Denmark are ensured by ยง 77 of the constitution:
- Anyone is entitled to in print, writing and speech to publish his or hers thoughts, yet under responsibility to the courts. Censorship and other preventive measures can never again be introduced.
The phrase under responsibility to the courts provides the main concept of the freedom: the constitution grants one the freedom to say whatever they please, but does not protect them from being punished for doing so. The courts generally set wider boundaries for what is deemed inappropriate for the press or in a political debate than for civil citizens.
The major punishable acts are child pornography, libel, blasphemy, and hate speech/racism, which are restricted by the Danish penal code. Like most other countries, Denmark also forbids publishing classified material harmful to state security, copyright-protected material without permission and revealing trade secrets in the civil law.
In 2004, 2005, and 2009 Denmark received a joint first place in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index from Reporters Without Borders. In 2011-2012 Denmark was tied with Canada at tenth out of 179 in the index.
Read more about Freedom Of Speech And Freedom Of The Press In Denmark: Child Pornography, Libel, Blasphemy, Hate Speech and Racism, State Security
Famous quotes containing the words freedom, speech and/or press:
“The only freedom supposed to be left to the masses is that of grazing on the ration of simulacra the system distributes to each individual.”
—Michel de Certeau (1925–1986)
“He gave man speech, and speech created thought,
Which is the measure of the universe;”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)
“Television ... helps blur the distinction between framed and unframed reality. Whereas going to the movies necessarily entails leaving one’s ordinary surroundings, soap operas are in fact spatially inseparable from the rest of one’s life. In homes where television is on most of the time, they are also temporally integrated into one’s “real” life and, unlike the experience of going out in the evening to see a show, may not even interrupt its regular flow.”
—Eviatar Zerubavel, U.S. sociologist, educator. The Fine Line: Making Distinctions in Everyday Life, ch. 5, University of Chicago Press (1991)