Posted 2/22/2006
Of Threats, Intimidation, Sensitivity, and Free Speech:
The Muhammad Cartoons
by Marjorie Heins
Countless words have been spilled over the Danish newspaper JyullandsPosten’s publication last September of 12 cartoons commenting on journalistic self-censorship and Islamic beliefs, including several that caricatured the prophet Muhammad. Surely, everything has been said by now.
Yet the controversy rages on: Is this an easy case for freedom of expression? Should there be no acquiescence in demands by some Muslims, backed up with lethal violence and threats, to suppress the cartoons? Or should sensitivity to intense religious feelings dictate self-censorship, or even government censorship, in the interests of saving lives and calming outrage?
Here are some basic facts and principles to help guide the discussion:
Basic Principles: Violence and Free Expression
Defamation and Blasphemy
The Argument for Private (or Self-) Censorship
Should Highly Offensive Speech Be Silenced?
NOTES
1. Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969).
2. The example was given by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47, 51 (1919).
3. Burstyn v. Wilson, 343 U.S. 495, 504–05 (1952). The case involved Roberto Rossellini’s film, “The Miracle,” a retelling of the Christ story which leaders of the Catholic Church said was sacrilegious.
4. Robert Wright, “The Silent Treatment,” New York Times, Feb. 17, 2006, A23.
5. Andrew Maykuth, “Muhammad’s Image is Far From a Rarity,” Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 9, 2006, http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/special_packages/cartoons/13825286.htm.
6. Monica Davey, “Student Paper Prints Muhammed Cartoons, and Reaction is Swift,” New York Times, Feb. 17, 2006, A14 (describing punishment of student editors at the University of Illinois). This article reports that student papers at the University of Wisconsin, Harvard, Northern Illinois University, and Illinois State also published the cartoons. Editors at Drexel University published an editorial describing the threats that caused them to change their minds. “Editorial: Freedom of the Press?” The Triangle Online, Feb. 10, 2006, http://www.thetriangle.org/media/paper689/news/2006/02/10/EdOp/Editorial.Freedom.Of.The.Press-1608362.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.thetriangle.org&page=2
7. Jane Kramer, “Comment – Images,” The New Yorker, Feb. 27, 2006, 25–26.
8. Louis Brandeis, Other People’s Money (1913).
All of the cartoons can be found at muhammadcartoons.com