Remember the many people throughout the world who were convicted for expressing their free speech in 2006, right around the turbulent anniversary of a Danish newspaper publishing cartoons about the Muslim prophet Mohammad? No, they were not Egyptians who wanted to publish the cartoons to make a point about free speech. They were Europeans.
Germar Rudolf was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for denying that there was a systematic Nazi plan to exterminate the Jews. Similarly, French holocaust denier Robert Faurisson was given a probationary sentence and a fine. Such laws are in place in most of Europe and in Canada, and many people have been prosecuted under them.
So it’s not surprising that in reaction to the latest video, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood called for similar laws for insulting Islam. After all, they ask, if laws can be passed to stifle hateful speech about past important events, why not religion?
However, they are looking at the wrong national set of laws. Genocide denial has never been a crime in the U.S., and it’s hard to imagine how it could be, given the First Amendment — a uniquely American institution.
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