Unrestricted Freedom of Speech Is Vital for a Free Democratic Country

First of all, I really do think freedom of speech is vital for a free and democratic country. But, I think we have to set some boundaries because we are talking about democratic country. Democratic country means that people have the rights to choose their own leader. Citizens have the obligation to watch and participate the government policy and also to express their own opinions and interests. In democratic countries, people can have their own belief and free to write what they think. There is freedom to choose your own religion and also freedom when it comes to mass media. People express their thoughts in the action called demonstration. Demonstration is the action that can be supporting government's policy or against it. You can protest government actions. However, the people have the obligation to follow their rights peacefully with respect for the law and rights of others. (Hilla University of Humanistic Studies 2014). Indonesia had the tough time expressing their opinions around Suharto's regime because government at that time tended to use a system of dictactorship. Everyone has to accept what government decided and follow the rules also respecting the President. Now, Indonesia is more democratic but also there are some groups still trying to silence public opinion. The purpose of writing this paper is to build awareness to the readers about the importance to participate in political decisions because in democratic countries, we as the people have the obligation to join and help government to rule the country. In these very day, people who lived in democratic counties should be more aware and participate because democratic countries got the people to rule the country not only the government.

When it comes to freedom of speech in democratic countries, people who share their opinions to public should be supported and intend to build a better country not to rupture. Freedom of speech is needed to build a nation in two directions not only the government got to rule the country but also the people. People and government in democratic country shared their thoughts together in the hope to build a better country, prosperous country. The way of people expressing their opinion should not offend and should respect others. Democratic countries obey international law so they can't do anything as opposed to the law. Indonesia may has been freed from the dictactorship of Suharto but rights of groups is still trying to silence public opinion signifies the freedom of speech in our country is still in danger. Take an example of Prita Mulyasari's case, she wrote something on her account in social media that cause her to go to jail. She was complaining about the treatment she had on a private hospital. This show how inconvenient freedom of speech in Indonesia. (Schonhardt 2010)

We should be able to give our opinions freely if it's appropriate. There must be some limit to freedom of speech. Some of the things can be offensive for others but everyone has their own perspective so when we talk about publishing something that

offend others is simply because to many people with their own opinion. There is no law that measures the fault of someone's opinion so we've got to be chill out about it. We should not be easily provoked with someone's opinion simply because their opinion different from us. As an old saying goes "the dog barks and the men continue." We should not be the man who continue the barking because it can provoked others and invite even more barks. (Sumaktoyo 2015)

Our country has the way to invite all the citizen to contribute the political decisions such as election. It shows that government respect our opinion, but there are also problems about it. Elections being manipulate by some groups so they can win and rule the country irresponsibly. They only want the money and corrupted. Too many