Forum: Freedom of speech should be exercised with responsibility – The Straits Times

The Jan 6 riot at the United States Capitol in Washington damaged the US' reputation internationally and brought disrepute to Americans.

It was carried out by disgruntled people who were allegedly incited by then President Donald Trump.

Twitter's action two days later to permanently ban Mr Trump's account was, in my opinion, appropriate.Facebook has also indefinitely suspended his account.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday at theWorld Economic Forum that it was wrong for tech giants to make such a decision(EU chief takes aim at tech giants over freedom of speech, Jan 27).

She said "such serious interference with freedom of expression should not be based on company rules alone".

I beg to differ. Freedom of speech should be exercised with responsibility.

No one, especially leaders, should have the liberty to say whatever they like with no regard to the effect their words will have on the public.

We in Singapore enjoy peace solely because the misuse of this liberty is closely monitored here.

Chandra Bose

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Forum: Freedom of speech should be exercised with responsibility - The Straits Times