Conscience and Information

Two newspapers in Malaysia were recently closed down for specified periods as a punitive measure after their editors published controversial cartoons. In both cases the press could be seen as an equal opportunity offender, since one cartoon pictured the prophet Muhammad and the other pictured Jesus Christ, drinking a beer and smoking a cigarette, above the caption “If someone repents for his mistakes, then this heaven awaits them.” These examples, though, are only the tip of an iceberg of repression that includes attempts to limit freedom of expression, the transfer of information and even freedom of conscience. This article appears in November 12 2007.