In the last several days we’ve seen quite a few very visible examples of people harshly criticized for expressing themselves publicly. I think it’s a worrying trend, and I think we’re in a period of declining tolerance.
Salman Rushdie, who’s famous for his 1988 novel The Satanic Versus, gave an interview to the BBC a few days ago as he prepares to publish his memoires. One of the interesting things he said is he didn’t think such a book would be published today.
An editor in Ireland was just suspended for publishing topless pictures of a member of the UK royal family.
There’s a band named Pussy Riot in prison in Russia for criticizing the government and religious institutions.
Now in the news are violent attacks on foreign missions over a film trailer made in the US criticizing Islam.
I live in The Netherlands, a country thought to have one of the highest legal standards of free speech almost anywhere in the world. The other day I was physically threatened and intimidated, in part over what I’ve written on my Dutch language blog. Anyone familiar with Bifurcated Carrots will know I’ve written some very provocative things in the past, especially targeting large agricultural and food companies. I’ve made a lot of people mad for sure, but so far no one has threatened me. Indeed many of the provocative things I’ve said have been the basis for further constructive discussions.
An interesting inconsistency with the notion of freedom of speech here, is it’s very socially unacceptable to express yourself in a visible or confrontational way. This is something I reject completely. I discussed these threats with the police, and they were very negative. Yes, they agreed I had the right to say what I wanted but their position was, short of a clear threat to my life or serious injury, I had to take full responsibility for what I said myself. They strongly discouraged me from saying provocative things in the future, not from a legal point of view, but from a cultural one.
Bifurcated Carrots is not about religion. Except for maybe something very small in passing, you won’t find any criticism of Islam, Judaism, Christianity or any other religion. I personally don’t think criticizing religion is very constructive, and in particular I find the recent YouTube videos which are the source of unrest in the middle east very distasteful. Pictures that violate the privacy of individuals are also wrong.
Reacting violently or with aggression towards someone else for what they’ve said or written is even more wrong. Trying to demand something that’s been published be retracted is not constructive, especially with the modern Internet where things can be rapidly duplicated and widely distributed. The violent events in the middle east and elsewhere are wrong.
If you disagree with something someone said, you should say so — publicly. You should demonstrate on the street if you want. You’re always free to say something just as compromising about them! The Internet and news publications of the world cannot have too many opinions, and yours are always welcome. As long as you are reasonably on topic, not unreasonably disruptive and don’t intend to promote a product commercially, your comments are always welcome here.
Maybe most importantly, if someone says something that makes you mad, it’s also important to look within yourself and understand what it is that makes you mad. If something makes you mad like this, it’s because of weakness. If someone says you’re racist, it’s time to reconsider the way you treat other people. If someone criticizes or makes fun of your religion, it’s time to reconsider your beliefs and think about how you can better coexist with the world around you. If you’re a royal family who’s privacy was violated, it’s wise to consider how you can make yourself less of a target. If you’re a government or business, you should think about how to incorporate the criticisms, and improve what you do.
Freedom of press is an important way the world improves itself. If you don’t view freedom of press as a positive thing, and attack it instead of using it to improve things, all that happens is even more confrontational things are published later.
Above all else, if you don’t like what you see on YouTube, you don’t have to view the videos. If you don’t like what you see on this blog or any other, you don’t have to read it. If you’re offended by a book, you don’t need to buy it. If you don’t like what you see in the paper or on TV, you don’t need to watch. We are all free to choose the websites we visit, or the sources of news and other media we use.
