公共对话外的言论与表达 从新《广告法》切入

Outside the Public Discourse Commercial Speech,Academic Speech and Professional Speech

本文从公众对新《广告法》的不理解出发,首先论证保护消费者——而不是促进广告业发展或广告主的表达自由——才是《广告法》的首要目的。新《广告法》中绝大多数对广告内容的规定,虽然看上去限制了广告的表达自由,但却是为了服务于更大的公共利益——保护消费者免受虚假广告欺骗和误导。因此这些规定总体而言是合理且正当的。在此基础上,本文又将讨论扩展到学术言论和专业言论。广告、学术言论和专业言论均处公共对话之外,这三个领域的价值都是为公共对话和社会公众提供可靠的信息、知识或服务。它们有着不同于公共对话的逻辑、原则和正当性基础。把公共对话的规范强加于它们,不仅会破坏它们自身的规律,更会对公共对话和现代社会的运转产生不利影响。

Started from analyzing the widespread misunderstanding about China^s new Advertising Law, this article first argues that the primary purpose of Advertising Law should be protecting the inter- ests of consumers, not developing the advertising industry or facilitating advertisers~ freedom of expres- sion. Most content-based regulations of the new Advertising Law have been fashioned to further a greater public interest--protecting the consumers from being deceived or misled by the illegal advertisement. These regulations thus are basically legitimate and proper. Then, the analysis of this article extends from commercial speech to academic speech and professional speech. These three fields are all outside the pub- lie discourse, and their values and purposes are providing reliable information, knowledge and service to the public discourse and general public. By uncovering their common logic, principle and justification, this article holds that enforcing the doctrines and principles of the public discourse on these non--public discourse fields would not only impede their functioning, but may also backfire on the public diseourse and the entire society.