Speaking Freely: An Interview With Rima Sghaier

Around the globe, freedom of expression (or free speech) varies wildly in definition, scope, and level of access. The impact of the digital age on perceptions and censorship of speech has been felt across the political spectrum on a worldwide scale. In the debate over what counts as free expression and how it should work in practice, we often lose sight of how different forms of censorship—of hate speech, for example—can have a negative impact on different communities, and especially marginalized or vulnerable ones.

Speaking Freely brings forth interviews with human rights workers, free expression advocates, and activists from a variety of disciplines and affiliations. The common thread in these interviews is that curtailing free expression, via public or private censorship, can harm our ability to fully and authentically participate in an open society.

Rima Sghaier is a human rights activist and researcher who works at the intersection of technology and human rights, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa. 

Rima grew up in Tunisia under the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, which lasted for twenty-four years. Although Tunisia was among the earliest countries in its region to connect to the internet (in 1991), its use by dissidents and subcultures led to the government increasingly restricting access to information and communications tools. By the end of 2010, Tunisians had had enough and overthrew the Ben Ali government in a popular revolution that kicked off what some have referred to as the "Arab Spring."

For Rima, the experience of censorship—and the fear that it invokes—affected her from an early age, and shaped her views about freedom of expression. For the past few years, she has lived in Italy and has worked with the Hermes Center for Transparency and Digital Human Rights, which has brought her into the global digital rights community and challenged her thinking about where societies should draw lines when it comes to free speech.

For many free expression advocates, this is the ultimate question. While some may invoke Evelyn Beatrice Hall (and through her Voltaire) in their defense of speech, claiming "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it," others would not take such a strong stance of defense, but nevertheless are uncomfortable with the idea of any authority being imbued with the power to decide for the rest of society what is or is not appropriate speech.

In our flowing conversation, we also touch on platform censorship, speech regulations, the role that Wikileaks played in the Tunisian revolution, and who Rima sees as the true heroes of free expression.

York: So let’s get down to it! My first question is, what does free speech, or free expression, mean to you?

“I use ‘freedom of expression’ more than I do freedom of expression, because that’s what’s used in Tunisia, in the sense of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And for me, personally—I don’t know if you’ve had this reaction from other interviewees—if you’re someone who really believes in expression, when you’re asked to define it, it surprises you. It happened to me [in a job interview]. It’s something I defend and advocate for, but I’ve never actually had to explain what it means!

If I have to give a definition that isn’t the legal definition, for me it means freedom from any fear, when expressing and articulating your thoughts and opinions, but also when accessing and sharing information.

York: I like that definition a lot. Would you say that you identify as a free expression advocate, or defender?

“Yes. It’s a part of who I am right now, and it’s really special for someone who was born and lived under a dictatorship for eighteen years.  It’s still personal, because I lived and was raised for so many years with things I could not say, and so my own personal freedom of expression is about being able to say things that I couldn’t.

York: Wow, I love that too. Is there anything else you want to say about that experience?

“To get personal, I can say that I had a family member who was in the political opposition to the regime. At one point, he was invited for police questioning. He worked under the cover of cultural reasons, but also gave advice on political issues and the political situation in Tunisia. I remember one thing that was often repeated when I was a child, when the topics of politics or the economy came up, your family would say ‘the walls have ears.’ You weren’t supposed to worry about politics, those things were taken care of by the Ben Ali government. You weren’t supposed to think about that.

If I asked why someone was absent, I was told that the person didn’t respect limits, that they were causing trouble. Speaking