Editor’s note: Zeynep Tufekci is assistant professor at the School of Information at the University of North Carolina, and she is a visiting scholar at Princeton's Center for Information Technology Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School. She blogs at technosociology.org and can be found on Twitter @techsoc. The views expressed are her own.
By Zeynep Tufekci, Special to CNN
The recent protests over a crude and offensive anti-Islam video serve as a lesson about cultural clash in the Internet era — not necessarily between extremists on both sides, but rather between cultural understandings of free speech and the public sphere.
It used to be that you needed to travel someplace new to experience culture clash. But by creating immediate connections between people, the Internet can create a culture clash without anyone leaving their couch.
The chasm I’m most worried about is not the one among the makers of the film and those who might have reacted to it with violence. In fact, one may argue that the hate-mongers who made this video and those who use the provocation as a pretext to kill are in a symbiotic, mutually reinforcing relationship.
The gap I’m most concerned about is the one between the vast majority of people in the Middle East and North Africa who watched the violence in Libya with horror and disgust and yet still find the existence of the video troubling and disturbing, and everyday Americans who see the story as just a few marginal, hateful people putting this video on YouTube.
To understand why this particular narrative of free speech is deeply unsatisfying to many people in the Middle East, you have to keep in mind significant historical differences between the rest of the world and the United States.
America’s free-speech culture and its legal framework are unique in the world — and genuinely baffling to many.
Remember the many people throughout the world who were convicted for expressing their free speech in 2006, right around the turbulent anniversary of a Danish newspaper publishing cartoons about the Muslim prophet Mohammad? No, they were not Egyptians who wanted to publish the cartoons to make a point about free speech. They were Europeans.
Germar Rudolf was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for denying that there was a systematic Nazi plan to exterminate the Jews. Similarly, French holocaust denier Robert Faurisson was given a probationary sentence and a fine. Such laws are in place in most of Europe and in Canada, and many people have been prosecuted under them.
So it’s not surprising that in reaction to the latest video, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood called for similar laws for insulting Islam. After all, they ask, if laws can be passed to stifle hateful speech about past important events, why not religion?
However, they are looking at the wrong national set of laws. Genocide denial has never been a crime in the U.S., and it’s hard to imagine how it could be, given the First Amendment — a uniquely American institution.
To understand some of the strains, we also need to remember how new everything is. Egyptians overthrew their dictator just last year, and YouTube was created seven years ago. Most people in the Middle East grew up in strong states, and the notion that all speech should be legally protected has very little cultural or legal resonance.
Besides, many people around the world believe certain lines should not be crossed in public — and it’s not just insulting religion, the state or the national culture. Many countries also have strong individual defamation laws. Celebrities in Turkey, my home country, have been known to sue people making fun of them on Twitter (someone should alert them to the Streisand effect).
The free-wheeling, open environment that exploded with citizen media has greatly complicated this political legacy. Sedat Kapanoglu, founder of the popular Turkish “dictionary” site Eksi Sozluk, in which ordinary people can post their own “definitions” on any topic, was laughing as he told me how he is regularly summoned to the prosecutor’s office and questioned on why he wrote an inflammatory post about a topic. He said he must repeatedly explain that he just runs the website and anyone can post. The prosecutors are not completely up on about this Internet thing, he shrugs. The results, however, are far from amusing: Sedat’s Internet start-up employs more lawyers than programmers.
Of course, all cultures set limits on free speech — and government restrictions are not the only thing stifling public conversations. In the U.S., narrow ownership of broadcast media has often restricted the public sphere, as viewpoints without a lot of money have been ignored or stifled. American reaction to unwanted speech tends to be to sometimes ignore it, sometimes use it to score political points, and sometimes use it to whip up the base.
The murder of U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens and members of his staff in Benghazi is not the first time a YouTube video has been linked to a political act of violence. This is not going to be the last such incident, either. Our connected world means that it’s not just messages of hope and solidarity that flow through social media, but also messages of hate and malice.
To move forward, we must understand the differences between peoples and not assume that everyone else lives in the same cultural, legal and political framework.
Note: Emerging coverage indicates that the attack against Stevens in Benghazi may not fit the general pattern of blasphemy-related protests in the Muslim world. The protest against the film might simply have been used as cover for a pre-planned paramilitary assault.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Thanks to free speech, we know a lot more about Islam and why it should be wiped off the face of the earth.
Thanks to free speech we know more about Christians, also....
If Islam was "wiped off the face of the earth", would the Middle East be better off?
Contrast: what if Christianity no longer existed in the US? Aside from the loss of a few annoying media darlings, would anyone notice?
hey mo, your ignorance of Christianity is astounding, read the Bible some day and learn what real humans think.
Whose 'we'?
Free speech: that is when somebody else pays for what you say.
What we are seeing is a head-on collision between values. The first amendment guarantees free speech. But many are ignorant of the impact of their irresponsible statements and some take advantage of it to hurt other people. We Europeans have a more sensible approrach to free speech. The British and the German authorities should request the US to prosecute those responsible for the making and posting of the obscene video on line, as their ambassies in Khartoum, Sudan have been damaged as a result of protests.
so are you saying because i don't practice christianity i'm "not a real human" the hell does that even mean...? thanks to free speech, i know more about all religions, and i know about zero religion. i'll take the latter. doesn't mean i don't respect people of faith, but from an unbiased atheist viewpoint, i do have to agree, islam does seem pretty ugly, hypercritical, oppressive and violent
Thanks to free speech we know how brainwashed Americans are.
touche sir.
If you want to talk about a "brainwashed" race, why not talk about muslims.
Prayers 5 times a day in case someone might get an independent thought throughout the day.
Kept in ignorance repeating slogans over and over and over and over again until they say "halas" we believe.
Friday night at the mosque to get revved up and sent out to riot, kill in the name of allah by imams.
Looks like a cult to me.
You have free speech because nobody cares what you have to say anyway.
Some cared too much
Free speech is better than the alternative.
Free speech is cheap.
Cheap but priceless.
More than priceless and a prime human quality
They take away what you need and give you in return something you never really use. And you love them for that!
What use free speech is for you if you have got parrot's brain!
What is free speech?
It is widely held that free speech is a distinctive and privileged social kind. But
what is free speech? In particular, is there any unified phenomenon that is both
free speech and which is worthy of the special value traditionally attached to free
speech? We argue that a descendent of the classic Millian justification of free
speech is in fact a justification of a more general social condition; and, via an
argument that 'free speech' names whatever natural social kind is justified by the
best arguments, that free speech is therefore this more general condition. This
condition involves not merely the orthodox freedom (in some sense) of speakers
to distribute words, but also two less frequently acknowledged dimensions of
free speech: audience understanding and consideration. We conclude with
some discussion of the policy implications of this conception of free speech.
What is free speech?
It is widely held that free speech is a distinctive and privileged social kind. But
what is free speech? In particular, is there any unified phenomenon that is both
free speech and which is worthy of the special value traditionally attached to free
speech? We argue that a descendent of the classic Millian justification of free
speech is in fact a justification of a more general social condition; and, via an
argument that 'free speech' names whatever natural social kind is justified by the
best arguments, that free speech is therefore this more general condition. This
condition involves not merely the orthodox freedom (in some sense) of speakers
to distribute words, but also two less frequently acknowledged dimensions of
free speech: audience understanding and consideration.
sydney.edu.au/arts/philosophy
You have free speech: and then you get married....
You must have a nasty marriage.
Thank God we are not all like you.
yes, thank god there are people less fortunate than you so you may feel better....... btw which god?
Speech is free. Having somebody who listens to what you say: priceless.
They love when you speak up your mind: they do not have to worry about what you might be hiding.
When you keep talking people stop listening.
Stop talking, noone is listening.
...said the person with fourteen straight posts in a row.
15 now!
Why don't they mention free speech when they read you your rights?
Andrey, you have a lot to learn.
do you mean when someone is being read their miranda rights? you're such a troll. if your country doesn't have the 1st ammendment's free speech concept, your loss. your ad hominem attacks on those who live under the u.s. flag are telling. have a wonderful day!
Did I get you upset? Sorry, that was my intention!
It appears to me that Muslims are the fastest growing segment of world society today. As others are withering away the Muslims seem to be rising again with their contributions as was the case historically when they ruled India and Europe and left behind a legacy of science, art, architecture, culinary et al. One only needs to go to Spain and India to witness this.
Yes, its pretty obvious that today's Muslims are merely the degenerate remanents of a once great people.
Science and the arts continued in the Soviet Gulags as well. The atmosphere of religious intolerance and authoritarian civil repression of the Islamic Caliphate was illustrated by the perhaps apocryphal war cry "Allah or the sword". The Spanish Inquisition seems to have been "Christianity's" polar response. Americans owe no one apologies for our freedom as our right-wing claques proclaim...but even they could benefit as well as the rest of the World from a reasoned study of the inalienable benefits and responsibilities of "free speech". The consequences of irresponsible speech must always be dealt with, as the European protections against libel and slander show. You may not go to jail for what you feel compelled to say, but the outcomes can be costly in terms of blood, tears, and money.
The fastest rising are Sub-Saharan africans which are mainly christian in fact. (Altough so hardline christian that they resemble more the muslims).
what's your point?
No one denies Islam and the Arab worlds contribution to humanity it is significant and honored but that time of enligntenment and ingenuity is long gone. And this is because Muslims in the Arab world are less tolerant than any other time in history especially compared to Islams Golden Age. Where are the Mathmaticians, Inventors, Artist, Poets? Does not your Holy book say to Read? Then one should read everything and challenge ones ideas and beliefs? Muslims have to decide will Islam be a religion of the 21st century or do they dwell in a pass long gone.
All you have to do is to look at the picture that accompanies this article to see that Islam is a complete failure of a religion.
If Islam disappeared tomorrow, 90 percent of the violence in the world would end. Of this I'm sure. That is who is committing most of the killings. You can say what you want about Christians and other religions (I'm not of any of them), but Christians are not flying planes into buildings. Jews are not committing suicide bombings. Hindi's are not throwing acid in the faces of little girls, nor committing honor killings, nor blowing up ships. It is ONE group who is doing all this. They want tolerance, but do not give it. They deserve no respect. If you act like an animal, expect to be treated like one.
In some Haryana villages in India, the young girls are routinely threatened, abused and killed all under Khap (tribe/clan) verdicts. It is acceptable for the families to feed pesticide pills to the teenage girls and then dispose off their bodies by burning them without any police records.
ARE INDIANS UBER TERRORISTS OR WHAT???? Forget the GDP, focus on these murder statistics.
In India, millions of girls are strangled, slowly starved or simply tossed in the trash. Moreover, in India, at least 1,370 girls are aborted every day. As a comparison, some 250 Indians die every day in road accidents. Terrorists killed about six people, on an average, every day in 2009. In the last two decades of economic progress, 10 million girls have died as such in India.
SHAME ON INDIA AND ITS BARBARIC AND MEDIEVAL CULTURE !!!
HINDU KALI – GODDESS OF VIOLENCE/TERRORISM
A recent report by United Press trust of India (UPI) stated that during the past three years more than 2,500 young boys and girls were sacrificed to goddess Kali in India. Another of AFP's recent reports say: hundreds of young boys and virgin girls are sacrificed every month for the deity Kali. In one case Rama Sewak hacked his eight year old son to death in broad daylight in Delhi because goddess Kali had told him he would come back to life and bring him good fortune. Bloodthirsty Kali is worshipped openly the length and breadth of India. Kali's statue stands naked astride the inanimate body of the Hindu deity Shiva, tongue stuck out with blood dripping from fang-like teeth. She holds a noose, a skull-topped staff, a blood-encrusted sword and a severed head. She is also known as Durga, Devi, Shaktima, Uma and Parvathi in other manifestations. The priest of Delhi, Kali Bari, says that a child sacrificed to Kali ensures a man the birth of a son. Human sacrifices are also made to these gods or goddesses, either to appease them or to ask favours of them.
Check your OB-GYN you may have PMS !!!
You should read a little more history. European Conquistadores commited genocide in South America in the name of Christ. America
Reading a little bit of history would do you no harm. European Conquistadores commited genocide in South America. American Indians where decimised in earlier ages. Our memoriy tends to live short !
It all comes down to respect and even if we have to change the first amendement in order to protect the bouderies of respect from people driven by hate, iit needs to be done. We cannot agree that every lunatic in the world, from the safe envirement of his cough, can set the world on fire!
We have learned quite a bit since the days of the Conquistador.
This is 2012 and what has islam learned to-date?
take a history class and grow up. i don't know you, but this comment sounds like it was made from the comfort of white suburbia where paranoia is manufactured artificially
Exactly!! It would be so much easier for US politicians if Americans believed everything the media tells us about the peaceful Muslims. It's such a chore for their Middle East plans to be derailed because of silly citizens outraged over the little bumps in the road in the Middle East like our embassies being attacked and our people killed. Our president and his staff would have less work to do if there was less freedom of speech and more accommodating the riot-prone Muslims. The less Americans know about Islam, the easier it is for our government to accomplish it's goals in the Middle East.
hi Jose,
you can certainly wipe out muslims by use of force,bombs,WMD, etc. but you cannot wipe out the religion, Islam. Islam is a way of life and many non-muslims do follow islamic way of life , except pronouncing "There is no God but ALLAH, and Mohammad (peace be upon him) is the messenger of ALLAH.
If Jews are offended, it's anti-semitism. If African Americans are offended, it's racism. If Muslims are offended, then all of the sudden it's free speech. Get the difference?
The difference is in the behavior. Your free to talk negativly about Jews and Blacks and they are Free to call you a racist or anti-semite. But your not free to kill people and attack embassies because you were offended. Do you now see the difference?
Animals.
Stop all aid
get Americans out and
Launch the Bombers
Bombs cost more money than aid.
Maybe bombs cost more but they finish the job.
No more expenses.
Right there with you except of the bombs . That is insane, you're becoming just like them. Instead of bombs and aid we should throw on them condoms .
Good one!
Free speech is great for those of us who are used to it. It goes without saying that it is very freeing to be able to state whatever we want. On the other hand, others can say whatever they want as well, and it's not necessarily complimentary. Still, we learn when to roll our eyes, or shake our heads, or even laugh at the absurdity. We learn that insults tell more about the speaker's character and are not a reflection on us. We learn to refute with a well-reasoned response - and we also judge when to ignore an insult as responding brings more attention, attention which is exactly what the insulter wishes for. This response is learned over a period of time, however, and the learning can be a difficult process for those who are easily hurt/insulted. (I think that's all of us, right?!)
it's funny that the author references the celeb's in her home country suing others for nasty tweets.... it is representative of the region's inability to let things roll off their backs – many of them they truly are stuck in the dark ages – thinking that in a caste society the 'serfs' and indentured servants (of all colors) cannot speak up/out against them; for they, after all, are the non-serfs. i get a smile on my face when i see people of all colors, religions, backgrounds both working together and disagreeing peacefully in my home country, the u.s. sure there are disagreements, and some jerks in all groups, but i've been around the world, europe, s.america, and am thankful every day for my u.s. passport. "haters gonna hate"
I have to repeat a previous comment from a different entry:
I am puzzled that we, as a country, have to apologize for everything perceived as "insulting Islam" or "insulting their prophet"! Soon enough they will consider an insult that the west does not believe in his teachings and an insult to their religion if we do not adopt it without questions! Freedom of speech is just that, speaking freely what's on one’s mind and being free to argue with other people that have different opinions. That means exchanging words not killing each other. No country or government should get involved! Also, where is the "peace loving Islam" when all this violence is happening? I assume that killing should be a much greater offense than some misguided words, drawings, or even worse, thoughts! What am I missing?
They don't believe in free speech or in liberty. I'm sure if they read John Stewart Mill's famous book "On Liberty" they would order it burned. What is really troubling is their insistence that the rest of the world must suppress speech as well upon pain of being murdered by them. It's simply barbarism and we should not stand for it but instead stand up for freedom just like we did against the Nazis.
Perhaps a Moslem group in the US just sued the producer of the movie...the American way...
You are correct!
As a Hindu, if I put a sticker of my religious symbol – the Swastika – (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika) – I would be called a new-nazi or whatever...
... as a matter I am not even sure if this post is marked "unsuitable" and brought down
why don't you call yourself a diaperhead instead?
Well, that is ignorance on their part. The Nazi swastika is a different orientation than the symbol of which you speak. I have seen it before as a symbol of peace and/or serenity (in martial-arts films, related to Buddhism). There is an anectode that someone told Hitler that if he used that symbol it would bring him bad fortune.
Freedom of Speech in America? The world do not understand America Freedom of Speech and Legal System????
YES THE WORLD DO NOT UNDERSTAND THAT BUT I T IS BECAUSE YOU DONT UNDERSTAND THAT EITHER!
This incident really demonstrates America Double Standard! US government wants to prosecute Julian Assange because he humiliated the government and he is considered to put americans at danger by his "freedom of speech" despite noboday has died. But this idiot who made the movie will be protected despite he actually does make american lost their lives.
If America wants to get the respect from the world, please be consistent and really put the law above all. I am also wondering, would America let say Libya or Poland send their Marine to US if their citizens were killed in US? hmmm
AMERICA NEED TO LOOK AT THEMSELVES IN THE MIRROR
When I look at Americans, I like what I see.
When I look at muslims, first I think you are funny and then I realize you are poison.
assange isn't an american citizen, his free speechj isnt protected here.
As a social psychologist, American and woman with a religious fundamentalist background, I agree with your analysis, find the anecdote about Sedat Kapanoglu man you mention who is repeatedly summoned to the prosecutors office, gives an explanation that apparently is incomprehensible to the prosecutor who summons him again and again. I could tell some stories of my own. Understanding, however, should never mean agreeing or accepting. The US version of free speech may be hard to get but it is a key foundation of the United States. It may be the closest thing to "holy" in the American dream and we should never remotely entertain "giving in", ESPECIALLY is we are the only nation on earth to hold freedom sacred.
Our leaders should explain, as you have, but never back down, never compromise our principles because others do not or cannot understand. That our administration actually considered doing this is unfortunate and worrisome to many Americans.
People who do not "understand" freedom should be taught but never agreed worh or rewarded for violence
In addition to understanding, I think we shall respect each others. Of course I agree that understanding should never mean agreeing or accepting. However respecting others' culture, religion, thought and way of life etc will certainly reduce unnecessarily adverse comments and actions which may create unnecessary conflicts.
I think everything should have limits including freedom of speech.
"""However respecting others' culture, religion, thought and way of life etc will certainly reduce unnecessarily adverse comments and actions which may create unnecessary conflicts.
I think everything should have limits including freedom of speech."""
Are you talking about moral or legal limits? There is a big difference, but a lot of people seem to slyly shift their meaning from one to the other.
So let's keep it concrete: Do you beleive that the film "Innocence of Muslims" and others like it should be banned?
In addition to understanding, I think we shall respect each others. Of course I agree that understanding should never mean agreeing or accepting. However respecting others' culture, religion, thought and way of life etc will certainly reduce unnecessarily adverse comments and actions which may create unnecessary conflicts.
I think everything should have limits including freedom of speech.
Unfortunately my friend that particular kind of limit on free speech then renders it moot. Your point about respecting other cultures, within the framework of the American notion of free speech, only works as a matter of personal conscience. The purpose of freedom of speech is so that a person can make unpopular comments without being silenced. By your standards (which are quite the common standard in other places in the world) one can then say that ANY comments are "unnecessarily provocative", including criticism of government actions or crimes, or criticism of powerful elites, or holding particular religious or political views. It is only by risking potential insult by having nearly unfettered free speech that we guarentee our own views won't be curtailed.
The problem with limits is who determines limits, the government? If our rights(U.S) come from God, how can anyone place limits on those rights, even Mohammed? "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me" is something we all learned as children probably to teach us to have a thick skin.
I hear that Egypt, under Sharia Law is crucifying Christians. Do you think Shariah might need some kind of "limit"? Who should decide that? Me and my mob? Seems like crucifixion is a little more hurtful than some YOUTUBE video.
Everything has natural limits. Our deviant Supreme Court has concluded that corporations are people, yet it is impossible for corporations to speak with the words of all of the people who own or work for one...at best, all of the citizens who make up a corporation can only speak to the Supreme Court with the voice of their attorney. Ultimately, a nation has only one official voice...that of it's leader: everyone else surrenders the freedom to speak for everybody. We can speak freely in the United States, but there is wide-spread misunderstanding that you can say anything with impunity: that is simply not true. It is a fact that many Americans have died for things that they have said...they were not prosecuted perhaps...maybe they were shot, hanged, lynched, beaten, tarred and feathered, or drowned. But sometimes we feel that some things must be made public for our own good or for the good of others, and we know that we will not face much official suppression, and despite what happens to us, our message may be taken up by others.
Who did Fred plagiarize this article from?
This has nothing to do with religion folks... this has everything to do with manipulation and control of globalist elite's. They play BOTH sides and have been for years including WW1 and WW2. That's right, they financed BOTH sides and raked in tons of money in the process.
Soon, free speech will be a thing of the past.
Free speech will be a thing of the past even in the US if Islam is allowed to thrive here.
Another poster pointed out that insulting their religion is a justification for violence. Yes, it is. Also mere existence as a non-Muslim (ie and infidel) is insulting to Islam, therefor your life is forfeit at Islams pleasure.
Americans, and particulalry, American leaders, such as the jack-ass Lindsey Grahm (who suggested that a way be found to silence people in America who criticize Islam) better wake up. Islam is not compatible with our way of life. If you want freedom then you don't want Islam.
Free speech is already a thing of past or a thing of choice. Read yourself " if Islam is allowed " Ha Ha Ha. People like you have destroyed Mel Gibson for not being politically correct. Even forced him to move out of US. Speech is political, if its correct it goes if its incorrect the speaker suffocated. Who need laws when social justice is in place.
UNDECIDED – Boo Hoo, poor Mel Gibson! lolololololol
There is legislation existing in USA which is to prevent hate crimes should be activated. All the Islamic countries should lodge a protest demand the legal system in USA to prevent global hate
Hate crime legislation stiffens penalties on crimes motivated by racial, religious or gender bias. No hate crime legislation would have prevented the making of this film, as making a bad movie is not criminal. You cannot
legislate what people think, and as ignorant, callow and offensive as many thoughts may be, in America everyone has the right to freely express those thoughts. Just as you have the right to disagree or just ignore those expressions. Get some thicker skin.
In our current state of things, with public media in very few hands, lies and propaganda can be repeated endlessly as if they were official government policy. Julian Assange has martyred himself and it will take a threatening level of pressure applied to our governors to back them down from their usurped ability to conspire against us. Governors will always say, as Governor Romney has said: trust me, What I have done is secret what I plan to do is secret. Freedom of expression is the first guardian of all other freedoms.
Michael E. Maus – Boo Hoo poor Julian Assange, the poor ra pist.
Julian made millions by putting the Western world in peril and the only reason anyone would want him is because he has made millions.
how bout you mind your own business, go back to your mud hut, and tend your cows and sheep?
There is legislation existing in USA which is to prevent hate crimes should be activated. All the Islamic countries should lodge a protest demand the legal system in USA to prevent global hate
Why not make similar funny movie about holocaust? That would be great fun for most of the world! Spread love of the free speech to all faiths
such movies already exist. you can find them online. but no one cares, because Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists and everyone else but muslims have a sense of proportion.
the fredom of speech should stop, where the freedom of faith begins – we can make a mockery of allthe worlds religions in the name of freedom – something might not be funny for everyone faithful one
This intolerance towards other faiths is obvious in this society- Where is the freedom and protection for other faiths? There is no regulations or monitoring mechanism in the country to monitor the hate crimes. Where is the legislations to safe guard against hate crimes? The Freedom of Speech and expression is being abused daily to serve hate crimes all over the world.
Alas, someone makes a critical and most valid point! But remember, free and democratic societies are relatively new to some, and even still non-existent to others (hard to believe isn't it?). And all social systems have their pros and cons. Drawing the lines and providing clear definitions to limit the many aspects of our rights and freedoms are always on-going (or at least should be). It is the responsibility of leadership, both of religions and governments alike, to grapple with such problems and enact their distinctions. Freedom of speech is a right ! Promoting hatred is a wrong!
Wrong Omar. The laws against violence already protect people of faith so that they can feel free to worship as they choose. Banning insults against various religions simply isn't necessary, and would deny the freedom of conscience and ability to express other beliefs, religious as well as political and social, to everyone.
What we in the US have instead is a system where the ideas and beliefs behind our views can be given open hearing, and conflicts between opposing views are settled by discussion and debate. Truth wins when debating falsehood. Sometimes that can get quite heated. But it is only when violence is resorted to – as an attempt to silence the views of someone else – that the law steps in to stop the one resorting to violence.
The laws are flawed in the protective implementation – I cannot verbally abuse a person with false accusation, but can abuse the same person via his faith and religious values by false accusations- Does anyone see the contradictions ? It allows for damage and fails to protect and safeguard. It is modern day witch hunting all over again. We have not mentally evolved yet.
Where is the legislation ?
There are laws and means intended to prevent and punish hate crimes, hate propaganda, speeches, etc., and quite often when the offense might be serious enough there may be consequences to pay. I will not advocate that everyone would be completely satisfied should they request enforcement under such provisions (especially if it involves the typical screaming raving lunatic on a street corner, or, for that matter, an insignificant but noticeable number of sick and twisted users of this very blog site), but should the matter be of more significant concern and be taken seriously enough, a real response could easily follow.
You can start at the web site below I you like.
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/civilrights/hate_crimes
"Of course, all cultures set limits on free speech — and government restrictions are not the only thing stifling public conversations. In the U.S., narrow ownership of broadcast media has often restricted the public sphere, as viewpoints without a lot of money have been ignored or stifled. American reaction to unwanted speech tends to be to sometimes ignore it, sometimes use it to score political points, and sometimes use it to whip up the base."
What blather is this? The author also seems to misunderstand "this Internet thing" and the free market! WE CAN CHOOSE TO READ WHAT WE WANT. We do not have to watch cable news or only read the mainstream media! We can go to any site we want. Just because some media agencies make more money or are bigger than others does not mean they are stifling others. The media industry is not a zero sum market nor should it be. What a silly statement
This is an extremely troubling article. "In fact, one may argue that the hate-mongers who made this video and those who use the provocation as a pretext to kill are in a symbiotic, mutually reinforcing relationship." What the heck does this mean. Is this author serious in her attempt to create moral equivalency between a filmmaker and violent extremists? This article is a tragically weak attempt to defend, even define, what free speech really means.
Mr Zeynep – my observation is the opposite. Anyone can see that the pressure from Islamic world that genuinely baffles the leaderships of secular democracies, intellectuals, cartoonists, sociologists and many others across the world. So don't say free speech of US baffles many.
Look at the great nations of Scandinavia. In the course of past few years, Scandinavian governments have been facing huge amount of pressure from Islamic world to change their laws that are protecting free speech and criticism of religion. Pressure is both from outside( islamic regimes of the middle east and Pakistan) and from within the nations (from ever rising population of muslim refugees). So there is no easy solution. It is the sharply contrasting views of two completely different cultures.
We are being evangelized by Muslims, Mormons, and fundamentalist Christians, all of whom proclaim a rigidly paternalistic social structure. Right-wing Muslims have established brutally intolerant theocracies in several countries through violence, and have established Islamist fiefdoms enforced by vicious militias in several failed or weak nations. These groups must be forced to respect the rights of all people to liberty and self-determination of religious observances. If these groups are harbored by host nations, those nations must be held responsible for the intolerable behavior of religious outlaws. It is for that reason that the U.S. should have declared war on Afghanistan for harboring Bin Laden and Al Qaida. Nations are responsible for the acts of their residents.
Thanks to free speech that people like zeynep can write such articles on CNN.
There is no free speech in any country of the world. Go and publish the names of US spies in Russia on your website or in a US newspaper and see if you won't go to jail for life; if you can defend yourself saying you have free speech!
Again with the claim that only America has free speech, and that it's particular version of freedom of speech is the only valid one. As long as you persist in such ignorance and arrogance, people in other countries are gonig to continue to hate you and you'll see more violence.
I think the murder of these American citizens is terrible, but America illegally invaded a whole country, killing civilians willy nilly and destroying their very homes. To act like the attacks on US embassies is in some way equal to or worse than the horrors the Americans perpetrated on Iraqis is disgusting.
Why bring France into this?
(BTW more than half of Iraqis polled say they still support the invasion (including over 90% of Kurds). Apparently the horrors of Saddam (mass murder, WMD attacks) were considerably worse for Iraqis than the horrors of U.S. "occupation" which mostly consisted of trying to keep Iraqis from killing each other while we helped them set up some semblance of democracy.)
"America’s free-speech culture and its legal framework are unique in the world — and genuinely baffling to many."
I think this leaves many of these governments in a bind. The citizens don't understand how something can be posted to the internet without the government knowing about it and letting it happen. The governments can't educate their citizens about American's free-speech culture without disrupting the status quo.
Contradiction in Freedom of Speech
Where is the freedom of Speech for Julian Assange ? – American and the Western world is after him for telling the Truth?
The hypocrisy of the freedom of Speech is obvious by promotion of false as facts, resulting in hate crimes for the humanity and its faithful ones
let me say it slowly so you can understand: HE IS NOT AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. HE HAS NO FREEDOM OF SPEECH HERE.
We should close our embassy's , pull our foreign aid, develop our own enegy, and let these countries rot in the dark ages wher they belong. You can't make democracies out of these idiots, they need dictators to keep them in control. We should of finished them off in the crusades. This proves a valuable lesson going forward
When you start a war finish the job and finish off your enemy because if you don't they will come back to haunt you.
The only thing muslims understand is the tip of the sword. Read your history. We can't live in a fantasy world and think if we pour money on them, kiss their ass, they wil grow to like us. If they want to destroy us, lets recipocate and destroy them. This kind of dark ages behavior just can't be allowed to continue.
Same reason we find things done/said in other countries baffling.
To say this entire incident is about free speech and this stupid video is nieve. The video is a pretext for these events. The organizers are smart enough to know that the video will incite the rabble which in turn will create chaos and fuel there ultimate goal. The destruction of Israel. Those who keep making this about the video are either ignorant of the ideology of those involved or they are lying to themselves and the American people about what is really going on.
"In the U.S., narrow ownership of broadcast media has often restricted the public sphere, as viewpoints without a lot of money have been ignored or stifled. "
Um, what? Name even one. Really stupid viewpoints tend not to get much traction here (which is why unlike most of the world, we never had a serious Communist movement) but I can't think of any viewpoints that were "ignored or stifled" for lack of funding as opposed to lack of interest.
The basic problem is the rule of law. In America, the rule of secular, with mandated freedom of speech and freedom of religion. But in majority muslim countries the rule of law is shariah law.
The Quran is the law, because there is no separation of church and state.
The Quran forbids proselytizing the poor and ignorant.
And freedom of speech legalizes the proselytization of everyone.
And the west can't do anything about it.
You can't change the religion of 2 billion adherents.
It can't be done.
The US tried for 10 years and trillions of dollars and thousands of dead american soldiers.
The result? US gets kicked out of Iraq, and A-stan is sell 99% muslim and Iraq is still 97%
1.2 billion muslims
2 billion Christians
1.7 Billion and counting -That is issue with you people – Pretty soon will take over the world as largest religion
Not at the rate you are dying!
And the solution is simple. The West needs to respect the islamic faith, and then muslims will in turn respect western faiths. But that means respecting islamic law: no proselytizing, no evangelizing, no trying to impose secular democracy with force of arms.
Freedom of speech is incompatible with shariah law, and indeed incompatible with al-Islam.
Their country, their laws.
BWA HA HA HA HA. I've read the Koran. Between instructions on how to treat your goats, and when to kill the neighboring tribe, there's a lot of stuff about punishing infidels.
There may be moderate Muslims, but there is no moderate Islam.
Epic faill.
Respecting Islam means submitting to its demands, which are for you to convert to Islam, submit to Islam (and pay the tax), or be killed.
Thats in the Koran. Respecting Islam means giving up what we in the West, particulalry the US, regard as a free society.
In an Islamic society, that is one that "respects" Islam, then Muslims can do whatever they want to you (as an infidel you are not regarded as a human being worthy of any respect) but you cannot do anything to them.
Whay do you suppose that countries with Islamic populations never grow more tolerant and open, they always grow more repressive and the non-Muslim population dissapears. A good example is Lebannon, and now Kosovo, where the non-Muslim populations are being persectured into leaving, converting, or dying.
And the push in on in Europe now too.
Europe traded 6 million Jews for 30 million Muslims. Good Luck with that!
Arab Muslims belong to a third world tribal culture about 1,500 years old. Read their history. Look at this culture in the last 40 years. Nothing's changed. There is no democracy, no freedom of speech, no women's rights, no rule of law protecting other cultures, no tolerance or respect for any other culture or religion. Tribalism rules everything. The average Arab Muslim is illiterate, and poor beyond the imagination of people living within Western cultures. They have got to learn to live in the modern world without reliance on the tribal slaughter mentality they indulge. It's not the West that has to change. It's the medieval Muslim mentality that has to change to meet modern internet challenges.
Islam is the dark religion. It's followers duped by the Anti-christ, Mohammed. Even the religion Islam destroyed in Iran, Zoroastrianism, explained the duel nature of existence. If only Muslims knew they were following Satan all the way to hell. It's going to be REALLY hot wearing a burqa down there!
I got as far as "protests over a crude and offensive anti-Islam video" and stopped. The "protests," aka murders and vandalism, were the jihadist observation of September 11. Jay Carney and Hillary can spin it off on the goofy film all they want; it's about Muslim extremism, Obama's pathetic foreign policy, and Hillary's incompetence as the head of the State Dept.
If we made all day, every day "make fun of Islam day", does that mean that the various Muslim streets around the world would explode all day every day with the result that lots and lots of Muslims would become dead at their fellow rioters' hands ... all day every day? Then ... good. Lots and lots of dead Muslims, killed by other hysterical Muslims. Just .. good.
This is the force of faithful ones – The unfaithful and faithless will never comprehend this –May the force be with your
The message that Muslims are sending is crystal clear. Don't mess with them or they will come after ya with full force and fury where ever you are.
and they will die by the thousands from drone strikes, carpet bombing, targeted assasinations.........you and islam dont stand a chance....
It is no secret that Hitler and his Nazi cronies sought inspiration from Indian extremist groups including the branding of his Nazi Party by adopting the Swastika, a traditionally Hindu symbol and representation of Hindu god Ganesha, as its marketing tool. The thesis being that like the Norwegian massacre, the Jewish holocaust orchestrated by Hitler was inspired by the inherently violent cult of Indian Hindus and the manifesto of its then extremist/terrorist groups still in existence today. These groups are now the successors to and carrying out the vision of Al Qaeda all over the world albeit in a clandestine manner.
What was pathetic was to see the maker of this movie cover himself up in public. What is this coward afraid of? Does he not have the courage to face the families of all those dead due to his act?
it wasn't due to anything he did, it is due to what uneducated, childlike muslim peasants did.
Ask yourself, if someone made a movie, book, video, article, offered a prayer for you or even used a word you didn't like and you were "offended", would you riot in the streets, or kill someone? REALLY? Freedom of Speech is just another way of saying that you have a God-given right to be OFFENDED. Get over it; unless of course you want me to be offended by what you are saying. Your rights don't trump mine. We have the same rights. Our form of government is not for people that don't understand diversity of thought, speech or religion; so if you are easily offended, perhaps you don't understand FREEDOM.
FAILED policy of a FAILED regime – everyone since Eisenhower. We allowed these neocons, and I;m talking the Nixon variety to engage us in wars by proxy for decades; we've allowed the bleeding heart liberals to multicultural our way into a gagged policy of PC correctness. What else would anyone THINK would happen?
Oh yeah, no one THINKS, they just repeat what they hear on TV because we gutted our education system. Enjoy the backlash.
You are so right! That is how it looks from outside too. I hope you find your way back to the road before it is too late.
An alternative to imported oil needs to come more quickly – prefereably fuel cells. I'd pay $10 a gallon for hydrogen to enjoy the complete withdrwl of all diplomatic and commercial ties with the Middle East.
In the way that the religious value their imaginary books and stories of magical fairies, miraculous returns from the dead and burning bushes that speak, I value free speech, the ability to debate and the value of logic and provable truth. That being the case, I have nothing but contempt for individuals, groups or nations of those who would turn away from something of true lasting value for the magical thinking of the caveman.Who will kill someone for something they say. Or in this case, didn't say: an Egyptian makes a movie, and that lack of logic and free speech means that demented mobs throughout the nations of Islam attack westerners ... instead of Egyptians.
The movie in question would never have convinced me of the failure of Islam or the muslim world to be of some value (it's a humorously bad piece of agitprop garbage, or at least so he YouTube clips of it make it appear) – but the actions of large numbers of muslims worldwide – both rioters and governments failing to control rioters as well as the lack of popular outrage at the behavior – in response to it has. it's time to really listen to people like Thomas Jeffererson:
"History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes."
-Thomas Jefferson to Alexander von Humboldt, Dec. 6, 1813.
Bizarre Health Rituals in India Show Dangerous Side of Tradition
In what has got to be on of the most vile and disturbing things ever put to print, a man in eastern India was arrested for his unconventional and downright insane method of curing the common cold in children.
50-year old Jamun Yadav, who considers himself to be a demigod of the Hindu faith, believes he can channel and transfer divine energy through his feet, which has lead to him standing on the necks and throats of young children suffering from your average run-of-the-mill cold.
When asked about them, the guru claimed that he was merely speaking for God, and as such needs no other defense.
It serves as a grim reminder of the dangerous religious traditions observed by many Hindus in India, many of which are done so for the health of their children. One such ritual involves throwing infants off of a fifty foot tower, a tradition thought to bring good health and luck to the child throughout his or her life.
India is a degenerate and a sicko society with a culture that is rotten to its core. We welcome alll hindus to the fold of christianity. In the name of our lord.
Jesus you are so wrong. I'm a european, and our religion ( which I discarded long ago) has probably done more killings in the name of God than the hindus did. And moreover at least the hindu religion is original, christianity is not (it has been copied from egyptians – google how moses inspired himself from Akhenaton, the first man who created a monotheist religion). Christianity might endure in the U.S. but it is dead in europe thankfully.
Nothing compares to the millions of innocents butchered by Muhammad and his cult in the name of allah.
Should any hindu see the light and want to convert to christianity we have a home visit service in our church to do so.
I am getting bad vibes reading about Hindus and Indians and their culture. I have read up on them as well and don't like what I see. How can our government be supporting India, a culture so brutal and anti women, children and minorities. I have put in a call to our congressional delegation and emailed them as well opposing any further financial aid/support of any kind to India. We Americans cannot condone such archaic cultures. I urge all Americans to contact their congress people and voice their concerns regarding India.
Yeah all US aid should go to Pakistan you towel head. Pakistan is such a great country isn't it? By the way India had a woman prime minister long before most countries could even consider the possibility of a woman leading a country.
What really pleasantly surprised me was what I witnessed in the Middle East. A tolerant and progressive Islamic society that has come so far in a few years. Most importantly providing job and economic opportunities to all, Hindus/Indians, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Europeans, Americans, Africans, South Americans, Chinese, and Russians etc. Never have I witnessed such openness and equal opportunities unless you go back to the times of Muslim rule in India and Spain. My conclusion is that the Muslims get it. They are striving to once again take their leadership role in the world order and take this civilization to its next level of excellence. The climb to success and progress is not a linear curve but a stochastic one. Let us join in wishing our Muslim brethren well and much success in their endeavors. If we can't help them let's not pull the rug from under them.
Many memebers of our familiy are employed by muslims in middle east. We would be jobless if it was not for them.
and you should see how those poor hindus are treated by their employers–>muslims.
It would make any human being cry.
Typical of Hindu comment @gene. They eat and sh!t from same plate. It is in their gene ! No pun intended.
free speech eh? since when have we ever been allowed to say what we really,,really wanted to say?,,i could go on and on about the situation in the middle east,,,and if i told you the truth and said it the way i wanted to,,i would be in jail,muslims do not possess the genetic makeup to live in freedom,or peace. you will argue until you are blue in the face,,,but in the end you know i am right.
How many comments do CNN delete from its website . ? Is it free speech . My two comments are deleted .
In the western world we infidels have this thing called democracy and free speech which many have our for fathers have battled to provide and protect. Incidentally these are the values that allow these so called peaceful protests to go ahead. Guys if you despise us and our ways feel free to exercise your democratic right to leave and stop trying ram your beliefs down our throats we do not care
With such "Dark Age" culture still in existence in India how can the world be healthy and the neighbors prosperous. India poses a grave danger to the world and its deities and leaders set a bad example. Mahatma Gandhi, a pedophile, needs to be exposed and tried posthumously for his child molestation crimes just like the Penn State crowd Sandusky et al. Gandhi's statutes need to be knocked down everywhere they have been put in USA. The hindu deities need to be shattered and trashed. Disgusting figurines of ugly and scary looking characters with demonic personalities. How can hindu children grow up mentally stable looking at such atrocious representations of evil in its most heinous form.
You do have a point. India and all of its neighbors are struggling. India being the largest of them all has to take the blame.
We will, as soon as we get rid of you.
We continue to be of the opinion that India is a zero sum event in history and that a break up of sorts is the optimum way to maximize its potential for the people. The current events in India reinforce our belief that the inevitable implosion of India has begun and the beginning of the end state is upon us. Whether that will be nirvana that most of us believe it will, is yet to be seen. But this we will say. This defragmentation of India will unleash boundless opportunities and uber economic demand that will be beneficial to US and Europe and help pull them out of current recessionary malaise. We pray for the events to unfold peacefully and in a harmonious manner for the people of India and its neighbors
Why are we not allowed to swear on this CNN site and abuse each other in the name of freedom of speech? The same morals and values should be applied to each others faiths. It is due to double standards in the systemic application of freedom of speech.
Can you Free Julian Assange the freand let him inform the truth to the World? Where is freedom of speech in practice for you?!
assange is NOT AMERICAN. HE HAS NO RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH HERE.
Under this cover of freedom of Speech the truth is being hidden and restricted, while this propaganda of false information is brain washing the naïve and innocent people to generate hate all over the world
Terrorists in any country or any faith (or ideal) are NOT a representative reflection of that faith or country. The quiet Muslim who's raising his/her family peacefully, going to work, paying taxes, and kicking up at a BBQ never make the news because it's not sensational! No one turns on the TV to watch people being normal, reasonable and just like them. They turn it on to see violence and turmoil, and that's what the news agencies cater to.
Would you like Westboro Baptist Church to be the worlds perception of Christianity? David Koresh's Branch Davidians? Do you think either of those are fair representation of the Christian faith?
Violence and hate are not products of religion, they are the products of humanity,
Every religion has it's atrocities, even Christianity which gave us the Dark Ages, the Inquisition, and witch hunts among other things. As an atheist this might be the devil quoting scripture but to paraphrase John: He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone.
the branch Davidians were never violent. they were victims of an overreaching government agency looking to flex its muscles.
Free speech, media and life is the right of all people. However, uneducated people not exposed to free global media before and who can be sensitive to misinformation and provocation can be very open to manipulation. Especially in sensitive areas. Democracy, liberty and freedom will off course come in time as the people experiment with it, and learn for themselves what hurts and what is good. Look at a society in terms of the maturation of a child... or well, a toddler. It takes time and maturity to realize that the balance of Themis swings both ways before it finds the balance. I am realy sorry for these late actions for just an internet film for I remember the response we had in Turkey for a similar film named "Midnight Express". All after ASALA killed our diplomats all over the world. I can understand the deep feelings of anger all these can revoke.
I must say that this kind of cheap provocation directed at such vulnerable societies can only be the work of hate mongers (which unfortunately can pass by under the advancde cover of freedom of speach that they do not deserve). While a few ELITE MINORITY can see through such acts, it can cause DISTURBANCE amongst common people. Hence the consequences.
"common" meaning clueless, mentally imbalanced, uneducated peasants with primitive belief systems
There can never be an honest discussion in the Muslim world about the link between Islam and terrorism when the concept itself is considered blasphemy. Blasphemy laws are the way Muslims keep from having to discuss that which is uncomfortable in their religion. Ban that which you don't like and jail those who dare to speak of it.
Let us focus on the causes of terrorism and try to fix the issues. They have been hanging out there for over 60 years ...Palestine..Kashmir. Let us focus on the victims of 9/11 and help the families more than we have done. Let us take care of their kids and put them through college. Let us take care of their wives/husbands/parents. Let us take care of over 200,000+ families whose dear ones gave their lives in Pakistan fighting this terror war. Let us focus on the victims in Afghanistan. Let us honor those soldiers from all over the world who sacrificed their lives believing they were fighting for freedom. They are so many.
Dog chasing the tail...nobody wants to solve Kashmir/Palestine problem. That is why we have terrorism. Till they ignite a nuclear bomb...nobody will pay heed.
Here are great lines on free speech:
"...People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”
The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven..."
Great staff: pretty much sums it up!
andrey....sounds like a russian name, im just going to assume that you are one.............perhaps you should stick to what you know, potatos, destroying your liver with vodka and totalitarian government, because neither you nor any other russians have any clue what free speech is.
ceskazbrojovka: sonds like czech name, I'm just going to assume you are one... so why would not you stick to what you know..... I am not really sure, what do you indeed know? I do not really want to offend any czech people here: most of them probably do not want to have anything to do with you. So why would not you just shut up: not to bring shame on your people.
Americans take for granted another persons right to exercise freedom of speech: in America, it's certainly not rare to read or hear something expressed by another which some individual might consider offensive in some way, yet for the most part, that expression is at least considered a fundamental right even if the offender might be considered tactless, offensive, a loser, or any number of other things. What people choose to do with what they see or hear is ultimately up to them. Attacking an Embassy and killing Embassy occupants is solely the responsibility of those involved in the planning and execution of the attack. What motivated the attackers is irrelevant:
For you people living in Europe or elsewhere who don't quite get American's Freedom of Speech Amendment, here's a rhyme and principle pretty much every kid in America knows before kindergarten age:
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.
So what you are saying is: you are as set in your ways and as proud of your beliefs as anybody. You don't think you should move with times and accommodate the changes: like that Internet and YouTube thing. You do not think that you should change in any way: that other people should move or be forced to move closer to your point of view. You do not think you should restrain yourself or the guy next to you: as long as what he does not contradict your laws and traditions. And you should protect your laws and traditions at all cost against pressure from all these bloody foreigners....
So I do not see how you are so fundamentally different from these Muslim fundamentalists.
I am not trying to offend you: I am just curious why do you think you are better than them? That you do not protest: you go war? Or is it something else?
For Americans freedom of speeh is sacred. We have the right to say something such as "I think Obama is an ass" without fear of reprisal, in any form. To be able to speak your mind (some shouldn't speak but they have the right) without worrying that the police are going to knock on your door and take you away, is something we, as Americans, are proud of. We have had the leaders Ahmedinajad and Chavez on our soil at the UN make negative and nasty comments about Ameri ca and they were not attacked or imprisoned. Did they make Americans angry, yes, but we didn't attack their embassies calling apologies.
Throughout the Middle East, we see our American Flag burned almost daily, yet we do not interfere with their freedom of speech, regardless of how disgusted we may be by this action. America is not ruled by Shariah law and Islam is attempting to push Shariah law on the world by saying the idiot who made the really stupid film be punished, we will not do. What form of speech that is against the law in the US is speech that calls for the death of a person or people. To speak to incite riots to cause death or injury will be punished. The reason for this, is so that you just don't whip up people to kill other people.
The idiots of the Westboro Baptist Church have the right to peaceably assemble and protest, even though the majority of Amreicans find them disgusting and ignorant. They have the right to freedom of speech the same as I do. I don't agree with them, but they are Americans with that inalienable right under our flag.
Muslims don't have free speech, they don't want free speech, that's fine, but they cannot impose their laws on the US. Muslims kill Christians for speaking, they kill women for almost everything, they can keep their law out of my country. Christianity is attacked by atheists in the US every day and they don't call for anyones death. For everything that may be wrong with our country, freedom of speech is NOT one of them.
Why couldn't you understand why is free speech baffling to Many ?? Its baffling because you don't allow free speech for holocaust in USA and the western world, while in stark contrast allow, all rubish and heinous of all heinous acts against ISLAM, Muslims and Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him) in the cover of freedom of speech and expression.
If Jews are offended, it's anti-semitism. If African Americans are offended, it's racism. If Muslims are offended, then all of the sudden it's free speech. Get the difference?
the first thing you learn in school in America is that you don't use violence. We said: "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.
So that is what they teach children in US schools.... That must be true then: words can never hurt anybody!
You missed the point. It is not about free speech it is rather selective speech and associated feedom. Any critical commentary aganist Jews and Israel is quickly shut down as anti-sematic. However, it is OK to critize any other faiths. It is OK to ban publications of Kate's photos in France but allow anti-Islamic catoons as well ban freedom of expression to protest test. We just have to decide as human beings are we all equal or some are more than other.
Free Speech is not understood in many places because dictatorships never allowed it . And in many places where change has happened in the Arab world the sensitivity is religous based . Anmd this leads me to wonder where is Christian, or Jewish rage over persecutions ? Maybe we have our anger issues under control. I know we need to try & pass on tolelrance to place where that may be absent.
However I also believe we need to exercise more self control about how we express ourselves vis a vis Islam for one . Does the ability to make a stupid anti Islam movie mean we have to go and do it ? Don't think so . Indeed Christians are called upon to love our neighbour . apply that and maby things will ease down in the world. I can hope can't I ?
Actually, speech is far from totally free in the US. You can't claim a drink is Coca-cola unless it is; you can't claim to be a police officer unless you are; you can't claim your medicine cures diabetes unles it does, and so on.
All free countries protect political speech more strongly than economic speech, but most put more limits on than the US does.
Many do not understand the intent of freedom which includes the word FREE. If people must pay for freedom or deal with unreasonable consequences of exercising their rights, then it is not free, and therefore not freedom.
People typically only care about one type of free speech. THEIR OWN.
Freedom of Speech. Perhaps another key development missed in this degate was Fareed's return to CNN despite being found guilty of Plagiarism. In this context, CNN should worry less about free speech than molested speech. CNN so called "Global Leader in News", is setting a low standard by restoring Fareed......
If there is consensus that freedom of speech should be considered a crime then why don't we start right here with the Iranian leader's own words. Heck, not just a crime, but a "hate crime" – punishable by death.
"The Zionist regime and the Zionists are a cancerous tumor."
"The Zionist regime's establishment was based on numerous deceptions and lies and one of the biggest lies was the Holocaust."
No Zionists were killed in the World Trade Center, because "one day earlier they were told not to go to their workplace."
"...with God's grace, this regime (Israel) will be annihilated and Palestinians and other regional nations will be rid of its bad omen."
"The Zionist regime wants to establish its base upon the ruins of the civilizations of the region...The uniform shout of the Iranian nation is forever 'Death to Israel.'..."
"Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken."
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