Brendan O'Neill: It isn’t free speech that causes violence – it’s censorship

Denmark’s ban on burning the Koran will embolden some of the most regressive elements in Europe.

So it is now against the law in Denmark to treat the Koran ‘improperly’. Anyone who inflicts ‘inappropriate treatment’ on a copy of Islam’s holy book – whether by stomping on it, ripping it to shreds or setting it on fire – could be fined or even jailed for two years. This is a travesty for liberty. It is a stain on the good name of Scandinavia. Denmark joins Iran, Afghanistan and other theocratic tyrannies as a nation where you might be made to rot in a cell simply for insulting a religion.

Brendan O'Neill: The empire of hurt feelings

Islamic countries are trying to force the West to respect Muslims’ ‘feelings’. We must resist this therapeutic imperialism.

Where is the solidarity with Sweden? The foreign embassies of our democratic ally are under attack. The walls of its embassy in Baghdad were breached by hundreds of angry protesters last week. Other Muslim nations issued stinging rebukes against the Swedes. Morocco summoned Sweden’s representative for a dressing-down. Jordan reprimanded the Swedish ambassador over what it called Sweden’s ‘racist’ behaviour. Iran said it will not send an ambassador to Sweden. And Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed Sweden’s ‘arrogance’, saying this wicked nation promotes ‘Islamophobia’ under the guise of ‘freedom of thought’ (not content with destroying freedom of thought in his own country, now he wants to undermine it in Sweden, too).