Revolutionary free speech
Arts & Ideas
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The French Revolution and the Limits of Free Speech
In 1796, Desititrasse's ideas were just that, ideas. The reality on the ground was that actions by the police and even central government shows that freedom of speech was still a way off. In 1799, a group of writers had had enough of this repressive atmosphere. They wrote a petition to the Minister of Police asking if authors are fearful of seeing their works disfigured or banned, who would be courageous enough to take up the pen? Such fear extinguishes imagination, numbs the spirit, and kills genius. Little did they know next regime run by Napoleon would be quick to formalise censorship,. Now, over two centuries later, debates about what we write are making
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