In Arrival, the main characters work with the government to understand the language of the heptapods. Yet, due to the highly sensitive nature of the matter, Dr. Banks and Dr. Donnelly must sign non-disclosure agreements to keep their work top secret. With this in mind, these characters have limited freedom of speech in terms of who they can communicate with. Similarly, in one scene, a government agent is seen calling home to his family. While his wife is concerned for his safety, he can only reassure her that he will be ok. He cannot answer any questions that she has or explain what is going on at the site. It is hard to know exactly how direct government censorship of information would have impacted their ability to conduct work.
On one hand, the link between freedom of speech and freedom of the press meant that the general public was already aware of the situation. This caused mass chaos and public disarray. Within the first ten minutes of the film, you can see how people are thrown into a craze over the unsettling news. This continues throughout the film with shots of people rioting in the streets, running around, and looting. There was limited information released to the public which made parts of the film reminiscent of an alien invasion. Yet, as viewers, we get a more in depth view of the more gentle nature of the heptapods. As most people had a limited understanding on how different governments were approaching the issue, they were left with small pieces of the puzzle.
Yet, if the public was aware of the true scope of the situation, the already heightened fear could be worsened. The difficulty of understanding a foreign language served many challenges and the long path to progress could have made the public lose hope in the government’s ability to solve the issues. Instead, the limited information released from the government allowed them to continue working without outside pressure and hindered adding to public disarray. Freedom of speech is critical to society for people to feel seen and work together to solve issues. Yet, in this situation, the government’s ability to limit freedom of speech with the betterment of the public in mind helped all parties.