Michael Moynihan makes the case against Mein Kampf bans and Holocaust denial laws:
If the goal of free-speech restrictions is to prevent the rise of right-wing extremism, such legal measures have been largely unsuccessful. In Austria, for instance, where David Irving was imprisoned for Holocaust denial, the populist Freedom Party—whose current leader recently posted a photo of a hook-nosed Jew wearing Star of David cufflinks on his Facebook page—has been hugely successful, with recent opinion polls showing their support at 21 percent. Compare that to the United States, where toxic polemics claiming to have uncovered a “Holohoax” are protected by the First Amendment, fascism is almost nonexistent as a political force, and levels of anti-Semitism are significantly lower than in European countries that criminalize Holocaust denial.
I'd also argue that Islamists have a small point when they claim that the West's boast of free speech is actually a form of disguised bias against Islam, since some countries do indeed ban vile anti-Semitic tracts, while rightly publishing Mohammed cartoons and allowing mockery of Islam. Of course, I find anti-semitic tracts, especially Holocaust denial, to be beyond degenerate. And the history of Germany is critical context. But the double standard nonetheless weakens the West in our fight against Islamist strictures against blasphemy – by believers or unbelievers. And if we truly believe in our values of free speech, we should surely be confident that fascism of all sorts is best tackled directly with speech than suppressed by government.
By the way, Michael has just joined the Beast team. Hurrah!
The Dish 