Democracy and Human Rights: The Danish Cartoons Controversy: Should there be Absolute Freedom of Speech?
On 30th September 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published a series of caricatures including those of Prophet Muhammad, a holy figure of Islam. Some of the caricatures depicted the Prophet in association with terrorism. A few months later, some other newspapers in France, Italy, Germany and Spain reprinted the cartoons to show their refusal to make allowance for the anger of Muslim people. This action caused further hostile reaction from Muslim people and government of Muslim predominant countries. Some countries such as Jordan or Yemen called back their ambassadors. Violence aimed at some Western countries’ embassies and people took place. While the Danish government stated that they would protect freedom of speech to the end as well as some European countries refused to punish the editors of those domestic newspapers, some Muslim predominant countries charged domestic editors who reprinted the cartoons in their newspapers. There has been a controversy over whether those editors should be accused or not.
In a broader view, from the perspective of democracy, this is the controversy over whether there should be absolute free speech and expression or not. Should governments and laws set some limits to individuals and organisations’ freedom of speech?
Defenders of the publication of the cartoons strongly believe that free speech must be safeguarded in this case. Some Western countries’ governments stated that they would protect freedom of speech and expression even when it is found insulting by some religious groups. As a staunch advocate of free speech, Human Rights Watch holds a viewpoint that religious beliefs should not be excluded from public debate as the speech is about ideas, not incitement or even advocacy of violence.
I do think that the matter should be analyzed in relation to public welfare, one of the key factors of which is peace. Respect for others’ cultural and religious beliefs is of great significance in maintaining peace in the world. However, world peace and harmony have always been an Utopian dream of humankind. In fact, in human society, conflict is naturally inevitable. The conflict between the Muslim world and Western world is one of the key conflicts in world politics.
In my opinion, part of the matter of maintaining peace and handling conflicts lies in how people express their views. In choosing an expression, they should carefully weigh the possible consequences. Is it sensible when personal thoughts and attitudes are expressed in a way that eventually leads to pointless suffering of the community? In fact, the publication of the cartoons by Jyllands-Posten has raised waves of violent protests against Western countries, causing tens of mortalities. Also, it has damaged diplomatic relations between Denmark and some Muslim predominant countries. Another possible but controversial consequence of the publication and reprinting of the cartoons is further implantation of the association of Islam with terrorism, which shows discrimination against the Muslim. Anyway, this has remarkably exacerbated the tension between the Muslim world and Western world.
While I agree that free speech should be protected to a large extent, I still hold a view that individuals and organisations should not be allowed to make use of the freedom in an irresponsible way. Indeed, governments and laws should play a role in setting some limitations on free speech in case the expression indicates discrimination or is likely to exert negative effects on community welfare. However, in many cases, it is hard to anticipate the consequences or prove a clear causal relationship. This leads to a dilemma: the one who has made the speech may cite these reasons to defend their action against government’s accusation. The case of the Danish cartoons is typical of the dilemma.
Reference:
- BBC News. 2006. “Muslim cartoon row timeline”.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4688602.stm
- Human Rights Watch. 2006. “Questions and Answers on the Danish Cartoons and Freedom of Expression: When Speech Offends”.
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/02/15/denmar12676.htm
