We have previously discussed the alarming rollback on free speech rights in the West, particularly in France (here and here and here and here and here and here and here). A teenager has sparked a national debate about blasphemy in France after an Instagram post calling Islam a “religion of hate”. Indeed, France has emerged as one of the greatest threats to free speech in the West and we continue to face calls for European-style speech crimes, including calls by its President on the floor of the House of Representatives. Now a teenager in France has triggered a debate over its plunge into speech crimes and regulation after characterizing Islam as “a religion of hate.” She can now be criminally investigated for hate speech under the notorious French speech law.
On a January 18th live broadcast on her Instagram account, Mila, 16, was called a “dirty lesbian” by a Muslim commenter. She responded by saying “I hate religion. The Koran is a religion of hate” and using vulgarity against the religion. She added “I am not racist. You cannot be racist towards a religion. I said what I thought, you’re not going to make me regret it.”
Despite receiving death threats and being forced to forego school, she refused to back down and said that she “wanted to blaspheme”. She apologized if she was vulgar and said that she did not want to insult people who practice their religion “in peace,” but “I have absolutely no regrets about what I said, it was really my thought.”
When French justice minister Nicole Belloubet denounced this as an attack on religion and was “an attack on freedom of conscience”.
This is the inevitable result of speech codes and speech crimes. There is an insatiable appetite to use the criminal justice system to punish those who hold opposing views.
These laws criminalize speech under vague standards referring to “inciting” or “intimidating” others based on race or religion. For example, fashion designer John Galliano has been found guilty in a French court on charges of making anti-Semitic comments against at least three people in a Paris bar. At his sentencing, Judge Anne Marie Sauteraud read out a list of the bad words used by Galliano to Geraldine Bloch and Philippe Virgitti. “He said ‘dirty whore’ at least a thousand times,” she explained out loud.
In another case, the father of French conservative presidential candidate Marine Le Pen was fined because he had called people from the Roma minority “smelly”. A French mother was prosecuted because her son went to school with a shirt reading “I am a bomb.”
As I have previously discussed, the sad irony of France leading efforts to curb free speech is powerful. Once the bastion of liberty, France has now become one of the greatest international threats to free speech. It even led a crackdown on the free press with criminal investigations. Mila has vividly shown how France has replaced its rallying cry for liberty with a demand for conformity. Perhaps this teenager will awaken enough citizens to the scourge of speech codes and crimes.
IMO, I am so liberal on free speech, unless you’re about to incite a riot, I mean…c’mon, people, has life become too easy for folks in Baguette Land?
I think this says more about the persons inability to “cope,” the one who is so-called “offended,” as well as the desire to play “victim,” which is really just a ploy for attention.
And perhaps, the court system likes making money off these cases….I assume there is fines, but I could be wrong, talk about raking in Dollas $$$$, making it rain, all over Crepe Ville.
It’s okay, I can talk smack, I’m part French….
In all seriousness, coping skills have gone down the drain, which makes me think “life is too easy” or “ppl have gone soft.”
#SticksAndStones
You can be offended, but then you need to get over it.
Hate speech, pffft…..Next!
are*** typos, typos, typos…all around. 🙂
I would like to ADD, if I may,
“Il n’y a pas de quoi fouetter un chat.”
=
“There’s no reason to whip the cat.”
=
“Ain’t no big deal.”
The French and Continental laws concerning hate speech, incitement, denial, etc. are out of sync with the core liberal traditions of free speech elevated by the modern French republics.
the aim of erasing the range of freedom which these laws do, is to repress the native population. The French that is. Or the Germans, and so forth.
As the great author Jean Raspail said, “patrie oui, republique, non!”
we must strenuously avoid these sorts of laws and repressive trends here. at the top of the list of repression:
a) university speech codes
b) social media speech codes a la twitter etc
c) professional speech codes such as targeting politically incorrect lawyer speech under RPC 8.4
d) mass media speech codes which restrict journalists from frank truth telling in favor of phony fake news
these trends MUST be reversed or eventually they will prevail. make no mistake
France, when partially under Hitler’s occupation, helped with the Holocaust.
France today is demonstrating that there is no free speech.
Fly over and flush.
Have any of her critics actually read the Qur’an, cover to cover, and the Hadith? Of course it is possible for Muslims to be peaceful. They just ignore not only large portions of the Qur’an, but also the teaching that Mohammad was the model by which all future Muslims were to copy. It’s unpleasant to contemplate for moderate Muslims, but the facts are clear that Mohammad was a warlord who killed people he considered unbelievers. He gave them the choice of conversion or the sword. He subjugated villages, cities, and nations, and raped uncountable women, relegating them to be sex slaves to be given or sold. He was a slaver who considered black slaves worth less than white ones. He described black slaves in physically derogatory terms. Anti-semitism is all throughout the Qur’an. If you read the verses in chronological order of when they were written, as soon as he amassed power, he turned truly vicious against the Jews. There are commandments such as kill every Jew behind every rock behind which they hide. Then there was Islam’s role in the slave trade. Then there are the directions about beating your wives, and how they are not allowed to say no even while riding a camel.
Christians have their cults who do unspeakable crimes. They are fringe lunatic groups not supported by any mainstream Christian religion, and certainly not faithful to the Bible. The same cannot be said of Islam. Islamic terrorism is a global phenomenon that has killed so many people. And the Qur’an clearly gives their claims credence that they do so in the name of their religion.
It is difficult to reconcile the label “religion of peace” with the facts behind its history. You can’t ignore them as part of the culture of ancient times, because their behavior was justified in writing in the Qur’an, which is supposed to be the direct and unchangeable word of Allah.
I’ve known many moderate Muslims. They just don’t think about the disparity.
If it is criminal to sharply criticize Islam, then it is the one nation free from the forces that have driven reform in virtually every religion on Earth. Absolute power corrupts, which is why so many religions require audit and change periodically.
Islam does need to clean up its act. But to do so will require very painful soul searching that Mohammad was not, in fact, the paragon of virtue he’s been made out to be, nor should he be emulated. But then that goes to the very underpinning of the Qur’an, which is that it is the literal word of Allah. Not written by prophets based on their visions. The actual, literal, unchaining word of Allah. It is claimed to be all dictation from Allah. So that makes all the kill-the-Jews bits a bit of a problem.
If you take out the sword verses, Islam can indeed be a beautiful religion. Maybe they need their own reformation era to do so.
Bravo. A great comment.
Islam is not a religion, it’s a political party hiding behind “religion “
From the beginning, Islam want the world to be under Sharia Law. Using Taqiyya to further it’s cause is how it’s gotten as far as it has, again.
Using PC Propaganda, the ignorance of so called Progressives, The Political Islam is marching forward , abusing our kindness to further it’s take over.
What’s curious, Does Marcon et al believe he will keep his position, power, head if Islam succeeds to rule France?
The Islamist have told us all exactly their plans.
The ones that are lying are the insane Liberals who are
Pushing for their own demise.
What’s really insulting, are the Liberal Jews, Sanders, embracing Sarsour. He might as well be holding hands with Hitler.
It’s not Phobic when the Political Radical Islamist really do want us dead
It is not inherently bad if religions have political and social teachings. In fact, all great religions basically do.
The Catholic church’s teaching used to be that a confessional state was ideal, not a secular one.
this was fiddled with at Vatican 2. here is a fantastic book which makes a deep dive into both theology and the history of the council and also the role of the CIA and Time Life publisher Henry Luce in that event
https://www.amazon.com/John-Courtney-Murray-American-Proposition/dp/0929891155/
i rate it a strong buy for all students of 20th century american history!
The American Founders believed the rights, freedoms, privileges and immunities of the Constitution are natural and God-given. Nature and God are universal. The rights, freedoms, privileges and immunities of the Constitution, with emphasis on the 9th Amendment, are those of all people of all nations; they are universal.
Some have not received the memo yet.
Each and every global “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech.”
_______________________________________________________________________
1st Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
France who followed our Constitutional Republic has done a very poor job of it starting with allowing Napoleon to become emperor and re establishing their monarchy system of aristocratic establishmentarianism. too bad we followed the leas of the Soviet Russians starting in 1909 with Comrade Wilson. But toss them out we did in 2016 and relit the flames of freedom and independence and ascendency of the whole citizen as the source of power..
Thank you for informing readers about this and other similar travesties re freedom of speech in France – and also other European countries, due to the EU dictates and influence. Marine Le Pen, who is growing in political support for advocating FREXIT and criticizing the EU is facing criminal penalties also – for freedom of speech. Naturally, since she strongly opposes the EU’s forcing France to take in 1000’s of middle eastern immigrants- mostly young, unskilled males, she is called a racist by the media and Macron’s supporters. Being overrun by unwanted immigrants has crushed the French economy and once admired healthcare system. French citizens are now 2nd class when it comes to police protection, government services, jobs, healthcare, housing. One wonders what is the real intention by the EU that is resulting in the destruction of member countries’ cultures and national sovereignty. Thank God for BREXIT. The people of the UK had enough of taking such destructive orders from the EU.
From an outsider, one of the aspects that I found so troubling about the EU was that if the people of its member nations disagreed with policy, they had no recourse. They couldn’t vote out their leaders and change course. They were trapped in the bureaucracy.
An example is that dratted monthly move of the seat of the EU between Brussels to Strasbourg. What an astronomical waste of money to box everything up, hire a fleet of lorries (moving vans) to transport them, and rent out an entire train. It disrupts the work flow something awful, and wastes taxpayer funds. And there’s nothing they can do about it. If Britons thought their money could be better spent on something, anything, other than rotating moving service (or removals), they couldn’t vote for it, or vote anyone out. It’s written into the EU.
The argument that there is no way for countries to function smoothly in trade and commerce unless they cede their sovereignty to the bureaucracy is absurd. The think about trade deals is if they prove unfruitful or not to the benefit of its people, a country should have the ability to change it. Its policies should reflect the wants and needs of its own people. Instead, those people have been subverted to the wants and needs of the bureaucrats running the EU, who don’t want to be troubled by the masses. Those elites want them to just quietly keep funneling them money.
Prof Turley, for once you seem to have united all your commenters. Me too.
People being free to say what they think is not something Authoritarians can tolerate. I mean, you just can’t control The Narrative if there is Free Speech.
Which, is why Twitter just banned James O’Keefe.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
“Islam is a religion of war.”
It’s that, but arguably it is a half-dozen other things too. Religious expression is multiform.
She’s an obstreperous youth (pne might wager a superannuated spoiled brat). She doesn’t need the attention of law enforcement (in these circumstances). She needs the attention of her father and (now and again) school employees.
She’s a brave young woman who clearly has a brilliant family.
Free thought, expression, critical thinking skills.
I believe you are projecting your own lack onto this Hero of a teenager.
We need more like her in the USA.
Too many are falling for the Socialist Free BS.
Lazy dullards who are clueless to reality and history.
How long before you educate yourself and climb out of the Cult of PC Propaganda?
She’s an osteoporosis*** youth, 😉
Note, the project of the left over a period of 50 years has been to make every kind of vulgarity and shamelessness more prevalent which harassing people for addressing political and cultural topics. Aside from a few lone wolves like Alan Dershowitz, leftists are at home with both of these dispositions. It’s one reason, among many others, the left should have no influence over public institutions.
It’s always been the religion of hate. Stating the truth in a world of delusion takes courage. Maybe we have a new Joan of Arc.
Some of the colleagues where I teach say they are afraid to criticize the “white privilege” emphasis in student orientation, since the claim has been made that anyone who doe not agree is racist and thus a threat to students. Transferring speech that some don’t like to harms that require coercible action, or possibly re-education classes is bad enough, but having the standard of coercion be based on feelings rather than actual severe harms to person, freedom or property is a double whammy -an important ingredient in the rising tide of cultural socialism. Soon, there may be no constraints for what laws and punishments that can be made concerning, not just economic situations, but all actions, speech and even attitudes.
Hitler used the same Propaganda.
PC is the way our Freedom is being destroyed.
The Master Race of Globalist will win if we continue to fall for the PC Propaganda BS.
Truth out now.
“White Privilege” is Racist , decisive and Hate. Pure and simple.
Nothing good ever happens when a Race is Blamed.
Pograms happen and stupid white liberals are more concerned about fitting in on some level of victimhood, than standing tall and calling out the Racist Bigotry cloaked in PC BS.
I think at her base, the young woman is right. For a true believer, it is certainly a religion of hate.
Elias Canetti, a Bulgarian Jew, winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize for Literature, wrote in his magnum opus, “Crowds and Power,” that “Islam is a religion of war.” Ask yourself: Would it be possible in 2020’s world of political correctness for Canetti to get the prize today?