What do you understand by the concept “freedom of speech and expression”? Does it cover hate speech also? Why do the films in India stand on a slightly different plane from other forms of expression? Discuss.

Freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) is the right to express opinions and ideas through any medium — speech, writing, print, art, film or the internet. Courts have read into it press freedom, the right to know and the right to silence. It is limited only by reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2): sovereignty and integrity, security of the State, public order, decency, morality, contempt of court, defamation and incitement to an offence.

Does it cover hate speech?

• Hate speech — expression vilifying or inciting hostility against a group — is not constitutionally protected; it is restricted under the public order and incitement heads.
• Statutory handles: BNS Sections 196, 299 and 353 (earlier IPC 153A, 295A, 505) and Section 123(3A) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
• Shreya Singhal (2015) drew the operative line: mere advocacy is protected; incitement is not.
• After Pravasi Bhalai Sangathan (2014), the Law Commission's 267th Report recommended expressly defining hate speech; Amish Devgan (2020) applied a context-based balancing test.

Why films stand on a different plane

• Cinema alone faces prior restraint — certification by the CBFC under the Cinematograph Act, 1952.
• K.A. Abbas (1970) upheld pre-censorship: the audiovisual medium stirs emotions more deeply and reaches mass, often impressionable, audiences.
• S. Rangarajan (1989) held certification valid but obliged the State to protect exhibition against mob threats.
• The Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 2023 added graded age categories and anti-piracy provisions.

Free expression is democracy's foundation; hate speech falls outside its protection, and film certification survives — but every restriction must satisfy necessity and proportionality, not popular intolerance.