One man's meat another man's poison

The terrorist attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo deserve universal condemnation. But the tragedy has also brought into focus the debate between our cherished Western value of freedom of expression and the fuzzy border where free speech ends.

In such matters the United States' view is much more liberal than in France or in the European Union as a whole. The very first change to the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, adopted in December 1791, not coincidentally around the same time as the French Revolution and its aftermath, prohibits any law limiting freedom of speech. Of course, there are some limitations for matters such as national security, child pornography and inciting violence.

The latest relevant ruling by the US Supreme Court, in a 1969(Brandenburg vs Ohio) case involving the white supremacist organization Ku Klux Klan, held that the government is prohibited from punishing inflammatory speech unless it is aimed at inciting, and is likely to incite, imminent lawless action. Under this ruling for example, Nazis in the US have been able to operate freely organizing marches and public demonstrations.