Free Speech: A Global Debate
http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2012-10-03/free-speech-global-debate
An Internet video insulting the Prophet Muhammad sparked riots, but also an international debate about the limits of freedom of speech. Some in more conservative countries see Western laws as dangerously broad, while others see hypocrisy, given that cross burning can be considered "hate speech" in the United States and denying the Holocaust is a crime in Germany. As the U.N. debates a call for anti-blasphemy laws, we explore freedom of speech around the world.
Guests
John Esposito
Founding Director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding: History and International Affairs at Georgetown University; Author, "The Future of Islam" and "Islamophobia and the Challenge of Pluralism.”
Kevin Bankston
Senior Counsel and Director of the Free Expression Project, Center for Democracy & Technology
David Law
Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science, Washington University in St. Louis; Visiting Professor, Georgetown Law
Comments
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With regard to the responsibilities of internet content distributors such as Google with it's search engines and Youtube service I would submit that this sort of entity would not exist without the free speech traditions and constitutional guarantees that the United States provides. It seems reasonable that the governing standards should therefor be those of the US rather than any more restrictive local customs or mores.