Meanings
- uncountableThe right of citizens or the media to print, or otherwise disseminate, speech, ideas and opinions without fear or harm of prosecution.
2 more examples
Since the press, commanding the service of every other means of communication, is the common carrier of information, delivering it almost instantly and simultaneously through out a nation, and there is no other carrier a thousandth part so efficient any restriction upon the information it may convey deprives every citizen in some degree of capacity for intelligent thought and wise action. This is obviously of great importance in relation to the affairs of government and that is why since its vital connection with the welfare of peoples has been understood, the freedom of the press has been so jealously guarded no more by its own servants than by the statesman, the publicist, and the enlightened citizen.
1917 May 30, “The Freedom of the Press”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), The New York Times, page 8The term free speech, which appears in this book's subtitle as well as in its text, is used more or less interchangeably with freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of expression to refer to all of the expressive rights guaranteed by the forty-five words of the First Amendment, as interpreted by the U.S. courts.
2003, Mike Godwin, Cyber Rights, The MIT Press, →ISBN, page 2
Synonyms & antonyms
Translations
Arabic حُرِّيَّة اَلصِّحَافَة
- حُرِّيَّة اَلصِّحَافَة (ḥurriyyat aṣ-ṣiḥāfa)right of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Basque prentsa-askatasun
- prentsa-askatasunright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Bulgarian свобода на печата, свобода на пресата
- свобода на печата (svoboda na pečata)right of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
- свобода на пресата (svoboda na presata)right of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Catalan llibertat de premsa
- llibertat de premsaright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Chinese Mandarin 新聞自由 /新闻自由
- 新聞自由 /新闻自由 (xīnwén zìyóu)right of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Danish trykkefrihed, pressefrihed
- trykkefrihedright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
- pressefrihedright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
- mediefrihedright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Dutch persvrijheid
- persvrijheidright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Finnish lehdistönvapaus, painovapaus
- lehdistönvapausright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
- painovapausright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
French liberté de la presse
- liberté de la presseright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
German Pressefreiheit
- Pressefreiheitright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Greek ελευθερία του Τύπου
- ελευθερία του Τύπου (elefthería tou Týpou)right of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Hungarian sajtószabadság
- sajtószabadságright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Icelandic prentfrelsi, fjölmiðlafrelsi
- prentfrelsiright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
- fjölmiðlafrelsiright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Italian libertà di stampa
- libertà di stamparight of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Japanese 報道の自由
- 報道の自由 (hōdō no jiyū)right of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Korean 언론(言論)의 자유
- 언론(言論)의 자유 (eollon-ui jayu)right of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Lithuanian spaudos laisvė
- spaudos laisvėright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Norwegian Bokmål pressefrihet, trykkefrihet
- pressefrihetright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
- trykkefrihetright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Persian آزادی مطبوعات
- آزادی مطبوعات (âzâdi-ye matbu'ât)right of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Polish wolność prasy
- wolność prasyright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Portuguese liberdade de imprensa
- liberdade de imprensaright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Russian свобо́да печа́ти
- свобо́да печа́ти (svobóda pečáti)right of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Scottish Gaelic saorsa nam meadhanan
- saorsa nam meadhananright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Spanish libertad de prensa
- libertad de prensaright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Swahili uhuru wa habari
- uhuru wa habariright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Swedish tryckfrihet, pressfrihet
- tryckfrihetright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
- pressfrihetright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Turkish basın özgürlüğü
- basın özgürlüğüright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Vietnamese tự do báo chí, tự do thông tin
- tự do báo chíright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
- tự do thông tinright of media to disseminate ideas and opinions
Cite this entry
freedom of the press. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/freedom%20of%20the%20press
“freedom of the press.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/freedom%20of%20the%20press. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “freedom of the press,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/freedom%20of%20the%20press.
Source: freedom of the press on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.