Prawne i etyczne ograniczenia wolności słowa

The article attempts to analyse the legal and ethical limitations of the freedom of speech. (1) The author concentrates on origins of the institution of censorship (ancient Rome, medieval Poland). He points out that in the Kingdom of Poland one could find rescripts, edicts and royal proclamation, which prohibited to import, sell, or read heretical books, under the threats of the confiscation of property, banishment, and even the death penalty. Then the author discusses the issue of censorship in the People’s Republic of Poland (the Law of 31 August 1981). The first part is concluded with the phenomenon of neo-censorship which is a form of self-censorship inside an editorial office toward editorial press materials. (2) The author discusses limitations of the freedom of speech by deontological norms, which are embraced by the IFJ Declaration of Principles on the Conduct of Journalists (FIJ) of 1954, the AJRP Code of Ethics of 1991, EC Resolution 1003 (1993), Media Ethics Charter of 1995, the rules of journalism ethics in Polish Television of 1996, the Journalism Code of Conduct of Polish Media Conference of 2002, the Code of Conduct in the Polish Radio of 2004, the Code of Good Practice for Press Publishers of 2005, and the AJRP Code of Ethics of 2011. (3) At the end the author discusses the ethical code for Internet users (netiquette).