Freedom of the Press in a World of Intolerance

Left to Right: Niki McCuistion, Flemming Rose and Dennis McCuistion

Flemming Rose, Foreign Editor of Jyllands-Posten; author of Tyranny of Silence; joins us to talk about, how one cartoon ignited the global debate on the issue of free speech.According to Rose, the decision to publish the cartoons was as a result of a debate on censorship which involved museums, publishing houses and newspapers. It started when a children’s writer was writing a book about the life of the Prophet Muhammad and needed illustrations.

Three illustrators refused to do so, one accepted, but wanted anonymity. This started a debate in Denmark about  encouraging self- censorship when it comes to Islam. Rose says, “We discovered that, yes, there is self- censorship and the fear is great. People are killed over this in the public debate of blasphemy and art. We decided to approach others to draw cartoons of the Prophet to find out if there is censorship or not”.

Rose invited members of Denmark’s Cartoonist Society to participate; half did. He was quoted as saying,

“Modern secular society is rejected by some Muslims. They demand a special position insisting on certain considerations of their religious feelings. It’s incompatible with contemporary democracy and freedom of speech; where we must be ready to put up with insult and mockery and sometimes ridicule. It’s certainly not always attractive and nice to look at.

It does not mean that religious feeling should be made fun of at any price but that this is a matter of importance in the present context. We’re on our way to a slippery slope where no one can tell how self -censorship will end. That is why our newspaper  invited members of the Danish Cartoonists Society to draw Muhammad as they see him.”

The cartoons were published; and it was a non-event. Several months later things exploded. Huge demonstrations and violence erupted  in the Middle East. In Denmark a lot of Danish Muslims demanded an apology. Rose says,

“A group of Imams, acting on their own,  presented themselves as spokespeople for all the Danish Muslims. When they couldn’t get a law passed criminalizing what was published, they took us to court but couldn’t get it refuted. They could not get an apology or a new blasphemy law. So they lost the case in Denmark and then took it to Imams in the Middle East, Egypt, Syria  and Lebanon, to raise opinions in the Muslim world, and they succeeded.”

The cartoons became a lightning rod. Rose says, “I cannot exercise my profession without freedom of the Press. My safety? I will always have a security problem for the rest of my life. I’m in the top 10 Al Qaida hit list. The Danish producer was killed so now there are 9 of us”.

Rose travels debating these issues and has arrived at the conclusion that this is a global issue and a growing problem. He wrote his book Tyranny of Silence, to explain his decisions and offer a perspective on free speech and censorship.

He is deeply concerned as it relates to censorship,

“We are moving in the wrong direction. Here in the U.S. you have the 1st amendment which is the best protection in the world on freedom of expression. But, you are becoming more and more isolated. When it comes to protection of freedom of speech in law, in other parts of the world there are more laws criminalizing more and more freedoms of speech … People are limiting themselves because they are afraid of saying the wrong things that might be perceived as offensive by other people.

The more diverse we are as a society, the ways people will express themselves are more diverse. We need more freedom of speech not less… What has changed the world is our communication technology, the digital technology. Everything is published all over the place. You don’t have borders and at the same time you have migration. People are moving across borders in numbers never seen before in the history of mankind.

And these two factors frame the debate about free speech. So the issue is how are we going to safeguard free speech in societies that are getting more and more diverse when it comes to culture, ethnicity and religion?”

Rose is not alone in thinking freedom of speech is in danger. Tune into this sensitive topic to see how freedoms are being eroded and the danger that poses to us all.