The Hypocrisy of Hate Speech Laws

William Saletan points out the double standard required to ban hate speech against Jews while allowing, even defending, mockery of Muslims. He begins by saying that the most frequently advanced generalisations — in his words, that Jews have too much influence over U.S. foreign policy, that gay men are too promiscuous, that Muslims commit too much terrorism, and that blacks commit too much crime — are poorly stated (and, I would add, in most cases based on a false premise), but each in their own way addressing a real concern. And, he points out, each of these statements violates laws against hate speech. "In much of what we call the free world, for writing that paragraph, I could be jailed."

On Tuesday, Pakistan's U.N. ambassador, speaking for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, told the Human Rights Council:

We are all aware of the fact that laws exist in Europe and other countries which impose curbs, for instance, on anti-Semitic speech, Holocaust denial, or racial slurs. We need to acknowledge, once and for all, that Islamophobia in particular and discrimination on the basis of religion and belief are contemporary forms of racism and must be dealt with as such. Not to do so would be a clear example of double standards. Islamophobia has to be treated in law and practice equal to the treatment given to anti-Semitism.

Of course, he's right. And in a democratic society, as Saletan put it, "Either you censor both, or you censor neither." I'll take neither.