Free Speech vs. Hate Speech in France: A Guide for the Perplexed

Joelle Fiss   28 janv. 2015

In response to the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack, millions of French took to the streets on January 11th to defend the right to “blaspheme” or insult religion. But a few days later, French authorities cracked down on the comedian Dieudonné M’bala M’bala for writing on his Facebook page, “I feel like Charlie Coulibaly” in a sign of solidarity with Amedy Coulibaly, the man who killed four Jews at a kosher supermarket in Paris as the manhunt for the Charlie Hebdo killers was under way. Dieudonné is now facing charges for “apology of terrorism.”