ABOUT CHARLIE HEBDO’S ATTACK

Charlie Hebdo’s attack  is an attack on the media and freedom of expression. The world community cannot allow extremists to silence the free flow of opinions and ideas.

No journalists should face violence for what they publish and any attack on journalists is an attack on freedom of expression.

Journalists should have the right to publish offensive material without fear of violent retribution. They should have the right to publish it, and others should have the freedom to criticise it. Let’s defend those rights.

The inalienable right of individuals in a free society to express their point of view, no matter how offensive, must not be allowed to swallow the right itself. No group can become the arbiter of what is or what is not acceptable speech based on whether it hurts their feelings or shows disrespect for their faith and beliefs.

Freedom of speech encompasses precisely the freedom to annoy, to ridicule, to offend. If it doesn’t, it is hollow. The instant that any person or ideology is considered off-limits for critical examination and even ridicule, freedom of speech has been replaced by an ideological straitjacket.