63
1)
The content of the right to freedom of thought and expression
108. In relation to the content of the right to freedom of thought and expression,
the Court has indicated previously that those who are protected by the Convention
have not only the right and freedom to express their thoughts, but also the right and
freedom to seek, receive and disseminate information and ideas of all kinds.
Consequently, freedom of expression has an individual dimension and a social
dimension:
It requires, on the one hand, that no one be arbitrarily limited or impeded in expressing
his own thoughts. In that sense, it is a right that belongs to each individual. Its second
aspect, on the other hand, implies a collective right to receive any information
whatsoever and to have access to the thoughts expressed by others. 85
109. In this respect, the Court has indicated that the first dimension of freedom of
expression “is not exhausted in the theoretical recognition of the right to speak or
write, but also includes, inseparably, the right to use any appropriate method to
disseminate ideas and allow them to reach the greatest number of persons.” 86 In
this sense, the expression and dissemination of ideas and information are indivisible,
so that a restriction of the possibilities of dissemination represents directly, and to
the same extent, a limit to the right to free expression. 87
110. Regarding the second dimension of the right to freedom of expression, the
social element, it is necessary to indicate that freedom of expression is a way of
exchanging ideas and information between persons; it includes the right to try to
communicate one’s point of view to others, but it also implies everyone’s right to
receive other people’s opinions, information and news. For the ordinary citizen,
awareness of other people’s opinions and information is as important as the right to
impart their own. 88
111. This Court has stated that both dimensions are of equal importance and
should be guaranteed simultaneously in order to give full effect to the right to
freedom of expression in the terms of Article 13 of the Convention. 89
85
Case of Ivcher-Bronstein. Judgment of 6 February 2001. Series C No. 74, para. 146; Case of “The
Last Temptation of Christ” (Olmedo Bustos et al.). Judgment of February 5, 2001. Series C No. 73, para.
64; and Compulsory Membership in an Association Prescribed by Law for the Practice of Journalism (arts.
13 and 29 American Convention on Human Rights). Advisory Opinion OC-5/85 del 13 November 1985.
Series A No. 5, para. 30.
Cf. Case of Ivcher-Bronstein, supra note 85, para. 147; Case of “The Last Temptation of Christ”
(Olmedo Bustos et al.), supra note 85, para. 65; and Compulsory Membership in an Association
Prescribed by Law for the Practice of Journalism, supra note 85, para. 31.
86
87
Case of Ivcher-Bronstein, supra note 85, para. 147; Case of “The Last Temptation of Christ”,
supra note 85, para. 65; and Compulsory Membership in an Association Prescribed by Law for the Practice
of Journalism, supra note 85, para. 36.
88
Cf. Case of Ivcher-Bronstein, supra note 85, para. 148; Case of “The Last Temptation of Christ”
(Olmedo Bustos et al.), supra note 85, para. 66; and Compulsory Membership in an Association Prescribed
by Law for the Practice of Journalism, supra note 85, para. 32.
89
Cf. Case of Ivcher-Bronstein, supra note 85, para. 149; Case of “The Last Temptation of Christ”
(Olmedo Bustos et al.), supra note 85, para. 67; and Compulsory Membership in an Association Prescribed
by Law for the Practice of Journalism, supra note 85, para. 33.
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