The Fragility of Free Speech in the "Free" World

This item from the Tuesday International Herald Tribune about a trial for "sedition" in India, plus another story from Malaysia (from the New Straits Times) about a student expelled from college for mooning the prime minister's picture, and one now from Jordan (about "slandering" the king) illustrate the fragility of free speech in the world. In each instance, acts of verbal or artistic defiance directed at those in charge is resulting in detention, trial and perhaps longer term imprisonment. Anyone who writes, draws or thinks for a living has a vested interest in each outcome. Yet, I am sure that each case is little noted in much of the Western press, nor will they collectively receive as much attention as, say, Nicole Kidman's latest movie (extensively covered in one of the same IHT issues).

At least part of the problem is that public attitudes toward surveillance, protest and preventive detention have changed so much in the wake of 9/11. And so we look the other way when those in charge, wherever in the world they may be, crack down in the name of preserving order. Interesting how selective we are in our outrage: Qaddafi and Assad merit censure while Singh and Abdullah do not.