First Amendment

Index on Censorship condemns decision to axe Flemming Rose as speaker on academic freedom

“…Index on Censorship is appalled by the decision by the University of Cape Town to rescind an invitation to Danish editor Flemming Rose to deliver the annual TB Davie lecture on academic freedom – especially at a time when academic freedom is under threat around the world – and considering recent events in Turkey.
Rose, the editor responsible for publishing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005, was invited last year to give the August 2016 lecture, which UCT describes as a “flagship lecture to promote academic freedom and freedom of speech” and which is organised by the university’s academic freedom committee.
However, in a letter sent by UCT Vice-Chancellor Max Price on 12 July, Price tells the committee that the university executive had decided “it would be extremely unwise to proceed with the address.”
What follows in the letter is an attempt by Price to justify a decision that makes a mockery of the university’s supposed defence of free speech and academic freedom.”
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The College Fix: Disinviting a controversial speaker is academic freedom

“…War is peace, freedom is slavery, and disinviting a controversial speaker is academic freedom.
South Africa’s University of Cape Town is drawing international condemnation from freedom-of-expression groups for yanking back a speaking invitation to Flemming Rose, the former editor of the Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2005.
In a July 12 letter to the university’s Academic Freedom Committee, which organizes its annual lecture on academic freedom, Vice Chancellor Max Price says UCT must nix Rose as the lecture speaker…”
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Presentation at Global Conference on "The Fate of Freedom of Expression in Liberal Democracies" Wellesley College, October 1-3 2015

About
The Freedom Project at Wellesley College is dedicated to the exploration of the idea of freedom in all of its manifestations, but especially in the tradition of Western classical liberalism. This tradition, in its broadest sense, emphasizes the sanctity of individual rights, freedom of contract and economic rights, constitutional democracy, and the rule of law. It includes, as well, an appreciation of the spirit of individualism, the free marketplace of ideas  and the struggle against arbitrary power, both in the form of political domination and the stultifying influence of ideological dogmas – cultural, political or religious – and social conformity.
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Al Jazeera America: Flemming Rose - People too easily take offense

Flemming Rose: People too easily take offense
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Ricochet: Setting The New Yorker Straight on Freedom of Speech

“...First of all, in a time when people seem increasingly comfortable with book banning, blasphemy laws, hate speech laws, and amending the Constitution to limit the First Amendment, it’s important to take every opportunity we can to correct common misconceptions and explain some of the basics of the deep and profound philosophy behind free speech and the wisdom inherent in First Amendment law. Second, it’s important to take on the growing tide of critics, including authors and even journalists, who rely on freedom of speech but want to dismiss it as something unsophisticated or even dangerous. Whether from Eric Posner, Gary Trudeau, or Noah Feldman, there is a push to dismiss freedom of speech that seems to lionize the fact that other countries limit it. Every single one of these critics should sit down and read Flemming Rose’s book on international censorship, The Tyranny of Silence, before assuming that “enlightened censorship” is either justified or working out well for anyone.”
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The Undercurrent: "There is no society that protects freedom of religion more than secular democracies"

“...Hate speech is a relatively new phenomenon. If you look at history, hate speech becomes illegal after the Second World War. I’m not in favor of hate speech. I try to talk politely with people and appreciate when they speak politely with me, but we’re living in a world that is more diverse than ever before. What is one man’s hate speech is another man’s poetry. What is sacred to one group of people will be blasphemous to another group. Hate speech laws are not actually used to combat hatred. If that was their purpose, then to be consistent they would have to criminalize a lot more speech than they in fact do. The laws are ways to force a certain group’s social conventions upon society-at-large. Hate speech laws become more problematic the more culturally diverse a democracy becomes. You can see that clearly in places like Europe, where I live. Most of Europe has laws criminalizing denials of the Holocaust. That’s one example of a hate speech law. Denying the Holocaust is stupid, it’s insulting, it’s a lie, but I don’t think we should criminalize it...”
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Foundation for Responsible Television: Freedom of the Press in a World of Intolerance

“...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...”
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...”
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The Rebel: The tyrannical silence surrounding The Tyranny of Silence

“In last Sunday’s Toronto Sun, columnist Alan Shannof wrote a "J'accuse" of sorts. In a piece entitled "The silence is deafening," Shannoff accuses the Canadian media of all but ignoring The Tyranny of Silence, the book written by Flemming Rose, the Jyllands-Posten editor who commissioned those now-infamous cartoons of Islam's founder. As Shanoff points out:
“Although the book was published in November, 2014, there has been silence from most Canadian media sources on it. 
“There have been no references to the book, for example, in the four Toronto daily newspapers until my column, today.”
Shanoff further observes that the cartoon have appeared in a Canadian publication exactly once - when Ezra Levant printed them in The Western Standard. (Shanoff doesn't mention that the 'toons appearance in the now defunct magazine led to two "human rights" complaints and Levant's two-year-long persecution/prosecution at the hands of the Alberta Human Rights Commission.)
Since the book, an account of Rose's experiences pre-and-post publication of the cartoons, "isn't anti-Muslim," Shanoff wants to know why it has been so steadfastly ignored. What's behind the apparent "self-censorship?" he asks.”
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The Dallas Morning News: Our Q&A with Flemming Rose

“Few people in the world know the price of free speech better than Flemming Rose, the editor at Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten who invited illustrators to send in depictions of the prophet Muhammad in 2005. Muslims around the world were enraged, and more than 200 deaths were attributed to protests surrounding what came to be known as the “cartoon crisis.” Today, Rose, 57, lives under guard. He is among figures, including novelist Salman Rusdie and the staff of French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo, who landed on extremists’ death list. Rose met with Points in Dallas recently to talk about his book, The Tyranny of Silence, published last year, and his thoughts on how the ideal of free speech is evolving around the world.”
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FIRE: A ‘Global First Amendment’

“...Though I have been concerned about the international scene for free speech for some time (especially as American academics often like to use free speech restrictions in other countries as a way of arguing that America is somehow behind the times and less sophisticated), my concerns gained new urgency after reading Flemming Rose’s important, and, at times, frightening, new book The Tyranny of Silence. If you are concerned about threats to free speech both abroad and also on the horizon in the U.S., Rose’s book is a must read..”
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