12 September 2012

Libya: there is good reason to ban the hateful anti-Muhammad YouTube clips

.... It is – obviously – blasphemous to Muslims. Less obviously, it offends against the central values of liberal democracy. The justification of free speech put forward by John Stuart Mill is that the remedy for bad speech is better speech. But this presupposes an interest in truth, and perhaps some agreed means of deciding on it. It's a system that breaks down when confronted with determined and malevolent liars.

[A COMMENT] The suggestion that some ideas or fantasies should be beyond criticism or mockery is very odd indeed, and is in my opinion a depressing sign of the betrayal of free speech. And it’s obvious to all that if this film were about Christianity you wouldn’t be advocating censorship. [Guardian Cif] Read more