In NPR's article "What Anti-Islam Film Says About Free Speech and the 'Heclkers Veto'" (Sept. 14th, www.npr.com), Steve Henn offers some perspective around Google's decision to take down the polemic video ("The Innocence of Muslims") that ignited ferocious reprisals in Libya and Egypt earlier this week, events in which the US Ambassador to Libya lost his life. It also presents different points of view in regards to the fact that this ban was done only in Libya and Egypt.
Henn establishes the problem as a dilemma between free speech and the 'Hecklers Veto', which is basically a temporary suppression of free speech rights (usually by the government), in order to preserve peace. However valid, I think the true problem is rooted in the fact that "freedom of speech" is mostly a Western world concept. The Islam does not fully believe in freedom of speech, especially when it comes to religion, a central part of their lives.
In contrast with other major religions, you cannot be a "soft Muslim" or "kinda Muslim", either you are one or you don't. And if you are, you put your heart and soul into it and dedicate your life to following and defending the sacred words of Mohamed, words that are usually taken literally. And it doesn't matter who the offender might be, or where he might come from. It doesn't even matter what his or her beliefs are or the intention behind the so called 'offense'. That person, and some times, that whole culture, is going to pay.
The decision of taking out the video just in those countries where it created major distress is a very complex one. There seems to be no right answer, because there is always a significant down side. As one of the interviewees in the article, Andrew McLaughlin, suggests, "if you show weakness in your devotion to free speech, then all that somebody has to do is threaten to riot in order to get you to take the speech down". On the other hand, how can you be part of something that is almost certainly going to trigger major confrontations and death?
Some people like to think that freedom of speech is something universal. And by that lack of cultural awareness, that naïve idea that we all play by the same rules, they end up causing a lot of pain. Google has fortunately realized this and is showing signs of good will and common sense.
Link to article: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/09/14/161138688/what-anti-islam-film-says-about-free-speech-and-the-hecklers-veto
Link to "The Innocence of Muslims" video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTdesxykPqI&feature=related
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