Satire, Offence and Blasphemy Laws

Few free-speech debates are as emotional as those over speech that believers find deeply offensive. In 2005 the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, leading to protests in many countries and a diplomatic crisis. In 2015 gunmen killed staff of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which had published similar cartoons.

At the UN, from 1999 to 2010 the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (renamed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in 2011) sponsored resolutions against 'defamation of religions'; critics argued these could justify blasphemy laws that punish minorities and dissenters. In 2011 a compromise, Human Rights Council resolution 16/18, shifted the focus to combating intolerance and incitement against people, rather than protecting religions from criticism.

The UN Human Rights Committee has said blasphemy laws are incompatible with the Covenant except where speech amounts to incitement. Several states have repealed such laws, including Ireland after a 2018 referendum, while others retain and enforce them. The debate weighs respect for believers against the protection of expression.