Freedom of speech Vs. Right to honor: and endless conflict

Abstract

The problematic relationship between the rights established in articles 57 and 58 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, referring to freedom of expression and information and the right to honor, privacy and private life, contemplated in Article 60 of the same constitutional text, reveal the difficulty in solving this problem. It cannot be said that we are in the presence of an antinomy, because the way in which the norms are drafted make it clear that they are civil rights that must be respected, without the exercise of one becoming the detriment of the other: every citizen has the right to freedom of expression and likewise, to have their honor and reputation respected. The problem is that many times the border between these rights is so fragile that it cannot be clearly appreciated. There are situations in which individual or group interests invoke one of these rights, not to enforce the Constitution, but to defend privileges or put power above law. This conflictive situation, which is born more in the interpretation and application of the norms, than from the spirit of the constituent, today is aggravated, by virtue of the power of social networks in contemporary societies. We are in the presence of civil rights that have their limitations, and the important thing is, not to blindly defend individual positions, but to seek prudent solutions that allow the harmonious exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and information and the right to honor.