“NIQUE LA FRANCE”. French rappers' artistic and/or political expressions and the limits of the right to freedom of expression

Abstract

The right to freedom of expression is defined and protected by several national and international instruments. However, it does not exist any definition universally accepted, which implies that the limits of this right are not clear. Therefore, many States adopt different laws fixing limits to freedom of expression when the existence of hate speech is proved. In France, the debate on the right to freedom of expression and the potential negative consequences of it has been raised several times. Indeed, for twenty years, French politicians have accused French rappers of using hate speech in their acts of expression. This thesis uses the theory of Scanlon, which states that regulation of freedom of expression is category-dependent. In fact, this theory brought a new perspective in the research on freedom of expression by giving more importance to the interests of the speaker rather than to the effects he may cause. According to Scanlon, the regulation of the right to freedom of expression depends on the categories of interests at stake and on the categories of acts of expressions. Analysing French rappers’ acts of expression with the support of the theory of Scanlon, the researcher will prove the importance of a categorisation of interests at stake and expressions in order to justify a governmental regulation. However, this academic work will demonstrate that such intents of regulation bring new perspectives since it modifies categories of expression and hence, audience interests at stake.