Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark World Press Freedom Day reminding us of the profound importance of freedom of expression, the lifeblood of democracy, consecrated as a core freedom in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and international law, while the rise of the Internet and social media have underpinned and propelled the Arab Spring.
Yet we cannot ignore the obverse side, the criminalization of freedom of expression, as in the case of Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil, or the targeting and murder of journalist Marie Colvin in Syria, or the establishment of an Internet firewall, as in Iran, to quarantine Internet freedom, or that the same Internet that transports the best of free speech also transports the worst of assaultive speech, including even state-sanctioned incitement to genocide, thereby warranting remedy and sanction.
Let us join together in celebrating World Press Freedom Day in the hope that freedom of expression will be protected, that journalists who are imprisoned for exercising it will be released, and that those who attack this freedom will be held accountable.