ERIC Number: EJ1454229
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1744-9642
EISSN: EISSN-1744-9650
From Paradoxical Freedom of Opinion to Media Education as Defensive Democracy
Ethics and Education, v19 n4 p485-505 2024
In this article, I argue that one of the paradoxes of the internet age is the contradiction between two aspects of freedom of opinion: expressing an opinion and forming an opinion based on facts. Expressing one's opinion may risk others' freedom to form opinions based on facts, because the freedom to express one's opinion also implies the freedom to put forth untrue claims, when there is no editorial filter before the publication of the content. While media education has often been suggested as a means to respond to this paradox, I further argue that education aimed at sustaining or saving democratic society is a means of defensive or militant democracy, which conflicts with the emphasis of individual liberties of liberal democracy. However, I suggest that we need to balance between these two forms of democracy in the form of media literacy education, if we wish to keep the ability to communicate freely online.
Descriptors: Freedom of Speech, Media Education, Media Literacy, Democracy, Role of Education, Computer Mediated Communication, Opinions
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A