Freedom Folks: Possession of Controversial Cartoons Banned in Malaysia

Malaysia has slapped a blanket ban on circulating or even possessing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad after it closed a local newspaper for printing the same caricatures that have enraged the Islamic world.

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In a short statement confirming its order to shut down the Sarawak Tribune, the government of mainly-Muslim Malaysia said it had issued the ban to ensure racial harmony.

To ensure racial harmony, huh? Do these boneheads actually believe that prohibiting citizens from having in their possession a cartoon that some find offensive will magically erase racial tensions? Yeah -- that'll work.

It is now an offence to publish, import, produce, manufacture, circulate, distribute or possess caricatures that may "jeopardize public harmony and safety, which may cause chaos, or endanger public peace or national interest", it said.

I hate to employ an oft-used phrase, but I guess it's oft-used because it's true, and this has got slippery slope written all over it. Just because a group finds something offensive doesn't mean that everyone should have their freedoms restricted. Is it hard to image a day when the violent demonstrations of the "We Hate Green" club get the color green banned from an entire nation? Well, there was a day when we couldn't imagine a country banning "caricatures that may...cause chaos or endanger public peace..." and it wasn't so long ago.

I'm just glad to be an American living in America, because it's casual Friday, and I wore this t-shirt to work...