United Nations must take action to ensure free speech for all

[Commentary] The United Nations General Assembly gets underway this week in New York, and beginning Sept 20, 195 leaders from around the world will parade before the UN’s green marble rostrum and deliver speeches. While the General Assembly may not be the world’s most productive meeting, it cannot be denied that everyone gets to have their say. Indeed the entire UN system places an extraordinary value on speech as a tool for resolving differences and managing international conflict. But on the world stage, it is often only government officials who have the chance to speak freely. Around the world, freedom of expression is under siege, and journalists are being jailed in record numbers. The UN must take action.

Leaders from around the world will enjoy free expression when they come to speak at the UN this week, but journalists who cover their speeches back home may not. If the UN—and the international community it represents—truly believes in the power of speech to solve global problems, it must do all within its power to close that gap.

[Joel Simon is the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.]