Wednesday 4 February 2015

When satire incites hatred: Charlie Hebdo and Article 10 speech

When satire incites hatred: Charlie Hebdo and the freedom of expression debate | Strengthening Journalism in Europe: Tools, Networking, Training: "The European Court’s refusal to rule on the cartoons notwithstanding, its existing caselaw does provide clear direction. Its guiding principle is simple and plain: the right to freedom of expression means that democratic societies need to be able to discuss current affairs and issues that concern us all, and we need to accept that some of us hold strong opinions. That’s what tolerance and pluralism is all about.

Inciting hatred against individuals simply on grounds of their religious beliefs oversteps the line; but satirising violent extremists within a religion is part and parcel of democratic society.  Satirising a religion as such should also be permissible so long as any insults aren’t entirely gratuitous; but the line is crossed when hatred is incited against specific individuals on the grounds of their religious beliefs. That constitutes hate speech.

This means that cartoonists have every right to satirise Islamic fundamentalism, an issue that has dominated public debate ever since the early 2000s." 'via Blog this'

Tuesday 3 February 2015

‘Toothless’ press regulator is a busted flush, but genuine post-Leveson reform is still on the way

‘Toothless’ press regulator is a busted flush, but genuine post-Leveson reform is still on the way : Democratic Audit UK: "Since he started last September, Sir Alan Moses has committed himself to demanding changes from the RFC’s rulebook, hinting at resignation if they fail to deliver. He told the Lords select committee that “many of the rules – this awful collection of rules and regulations – are opaque, sometimes self-contradictory, difficult to understand and sometimes difficult to find”.  The rules on investigations, he conceded, “require a large amount of red pencil”.

Precisely how many changes he was demanding, in what terms, and within what timescale remain unknown. Despite Sir Alan’s repeated commitment to transparency, nothing has been made public.

 It is now clear, however, that Sir Alan will be getting short shrift from the RFC. When its chairman Paul Vickers appeared in front of the committee a week later he was unequivocal: “When Sir Alan says he’s going to put a red line through a whole load of things, he can’t.” " 'via Blog this'