Draw a Line Between Freedom of Speech and Privacy of Public Figures

Abstract

Freedom of speech is one of the most treasured rights of citizens of democratic nations around the world while Privacy is considered fundamental to our society. Where to draw the line between the people's right to speak and the individual's right to privacy becomes more and more vital in the information age, since new technologies in cyberspace such as Facebook, Twitter, Smartphone and You Tube offer individuals with much easier access to very powerful means of expression that enable them to reach wide audiences both nationally and internationally at relatively little expense. Here comes the difficult and controversial problem, are public figures entitled to the same degree of privacy as ordinary citizens? In an era where a simple Google search can reveal the minutiae of the life of anyone worth his weight in salt, it seems unrealistic to expect that public personalities can maintain their private space, even on matters related to their intimate personal life. However, before we can make a delicate balance between them, we need to take public interests, value of privacy and limits of free speech together into account to see which one should win on a discussion of case-by-case basis.