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The Need for Context
151/Des Freedman
DATELINE: 14/5/06
The most important thing to bear in mind concerning the Jyllands-Posten cartoons is context. Both the original publication of the cartoons and the campaign in conservative newspapers to re-print them took place in the context of increasing attacks on Muslims and on ‘Islamic culture’ that have followed 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Arguments and statements that marginalise this context in favour of an absolute right to free speech risk playing into the hands of those who are interested neither in press freedom nor social justice.
Jyllands-Posten is not an innocent party in this controversy but an active participant in fomenting a political culture in Denmark that is systematically anti-immigrant and has led to the electoral success of the Danish People’s Party (for whom a halt to immigration is a key demand).
People who are genuinely interested in freedom of speech would do better to confront those governments who have stepped up their attacks on press freedom as part of anti-terror laws rather than focusing on an incident that was deliberately designed to provoke Muslims in the current political climate. These were not playful cartoons but racist images that play on images of Muslims as terrorists that are already far too prevalent in the media.
We should further ask whether there is an absolute and irrevocable right to freedom of speech? Was it really a boost to free speech that the leader of the British National Party Nick Griffin was (thus far) acquitted on charges of inciting racial hatred? Are we really saying that there is an equivalent situation concerning, for example, the civil rights situation of Christians and Muslims in this country?
The argument about a principled support for freedom of speech in any circumstances ignores the question of power. Muslims and non-Muslims are not afforded the same power in many European states just as many of the voices championing free speech in the press are vastly better resourced and connected than some of the poorest and most detached people in these countries. As Onora O’Neill wrote in The Guardian on February 13: "Conferring the same freedom of expression on more powerful organisations, including media organisations, is now less easily justified. Once we take account of the power of the media, we are not likely to think that they should enjoy unconditional freedom of expression. We do not think corporations should have unrestricted rights to invent their balance sheets, or governments to... deceive their electorates. Yet contemporary liberal readings of the right to free speech often assume that we can safely accord the same freedom of expression to the powerless and the powerful".
It seems to me the issue being raised is precisely not about freedom of expression but about the extension of Islamophobia across Europe in the context of a sustained political attack on Muslim communities. To simply talk about rights to free speech WITHOUT acknowledging the context is dangerously abstract.
The decision in British newspapers not to publish the cartoons does not show restraint and ‘common sense’ but nervousness in the face of likely opposition. I am aware there is a tradition of racist Islamophobic cartoons and articles in the British press but do we really want new cartoons to be published in order for the press to be seen as consistent? There is a distinction between the right to publish (which should not be subject to government diktat) and the tactical decision to publish.
At a time when we in the CPBF should be trying to broaden our links with others in the movement and publicise our own Government's clampdown on free speech, we should make it clear that we condemn those who have taken the decision to publish the cartoons in the name of ‘free speech’ and declare our opposition to those who attempt to stir up racial hatred on minority groups who are already facing vilification and discrimination.
Last modified: Sunday, May 14, 2006
Previous free speech & censorship stories
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Notices
Events & Announcements
World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
DATELINE: 27/4/13
UK launch of EU media campaign
DATELINE: 13/3/13
The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
CPBF Annual General Meeting
DATELINE: 1/3/13
Make a note in your diary
Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
NUJ HQ, 308/312 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1.
Leveson, media ownership, CPBF future work.
DOWNLOAD FREEPRESS NOW
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Download Freepress in PDF, ePub or mobi format. Issue 194 now available.
MEDIA FOR ALL CONFERENCE
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Papers from the Media for All Conference
MEDIA MANIFESTO
DATELINE: 26/3/10
The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
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Previous stories
Free Speech & Censorship
The Danish Cartoon Controversy
IFEX conference highlights freedom of expression
Statement of Media Professionals Meeting to Discuss the Danish Cartoons Controversy
Freedom of Expression or Hate Speech
Religion and Freedom of the Press
CPBF response to the cartoons
Cover-ups, lies and censorship
CPBF response to the cartoons
The Danish Cartoon Controversy
IFJ call for debate as cartoons cost editor his job
All the news that doesn't fit
Gagging the truth
Borris Johnson vows 'I'll go to jail to print the truth'
UK paper gagged over Aljazeera memo
Freedom of Information Blockage
FoI training from the Campaign for Freedom of information
Journalists worldwide protest Canada's news lockout
Australia gets tough on journalists
Government to consult over Freedom of Information and the PCC
A law unto itself
Community Newspaper uses FoI Act
Open the Books!
Freedom of speech - the global challenge
IFEX handbook on free expression campaigns
A message from the McLibel two
Using FoI
Freedom At Last?
Congratulations
Lobbying, FoI and News International
