英検1級二次試験スピーチのサンプル例文『Can restrictions on freedom of speech ever be justified?』
過去に出題されました課題（『Can restrictions on freedom of speech ever be justified?』）のサンプル例文です。オンラインのネイティブ講師の確認を受けております。
課題：Can restrictions on freedom of speech ever be justified?
以下がサンプル例文です。
Freedom of expression is one of the basic rights of human beings. Additionally, it is also an indispensable factor for a democratic nation. Moreover, with the prevalence of the internet as a means of communication, people can express themselves more freely and often anonymously. So in my opinion, any restriction on freedom of speech is unacceptable.
Firstly, I maintain that free expression is integral to democracy. When a government prohibits its citizens from expressing their ideas freely, democracy will be severely threatened. History shows the correlation between the rise of the dictatorship and imposition of restrictions on freedom of speech. Also, everbody has the right to speak freely, as long as they do not violate and impede other’s rights and activities. Without the transparency, government accountability is impossible to achieve and democracy definitely fails.
Furthermore, as social networking services have been permeating through people’s daily lives, larger numbers of people throughout the world make use of the internet to share information and exchange opinions with each other. A handful of dictatorial countries often intensively monitor communications in order to at times, prevent free speech and exchange of ideas which are considered as a threat to the authority. This inevitably leads to an infringement of privacy. If such invasive measures are continually carried out, citizens will inevitably lose even more of their basic rights. However, the spread of using the internet goes a long way towards enabling totally free expression in most areas of the world.
Based on the above-mentioned reasons, I firmly believe that free speech should never be infringed. If people are deprived of the right to express themselves freely, democracy is just like a hollow idea with neither substance nor meaning and other human rights such as privacy will also be endangered.
