This is a little follow-up on the topic of free speech and censorship. Recently a British member of the European parliament, Nigel Farage, attacked the Belgian President of the EU by telling him that “he has the charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk”. Along the way he said that Belgium was "pretty much a non-country”.
I met Mr Farage once in Oxford and had a good laugh. I believe he would have been an excellent comedian had he not entered politics because he has the type of dry, dark, cynical sense of humour which many people like me especially enjoy. So when I watched him have a go at Mr Van Rompuy I laughed because I thought he was hilarious (not necessarily because I agreed with what he said). In any case I never thought that he would actually be censored and fined 3000 euros. To me this was neither fair nor democratic.
As I mentioned in the video (especially in reply to Saied), this goes to show that the “West” is not one, homogenous entity. There is a huge gap in the way the British understand free speech and continentals do. What is “witty” on this side of the English channel can be considered “offensive” on the other side. Perhaps this can give my readers a bit more food for thought as to where and according to what criteria a threshold for free speech should be placed.. and, indeed, whether placing such as threshold is at all possible!
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