The Impact of Fear on Freedom and Expression

This is the audio from a video we have just published on our YouTube channel – an interview with Gérard Biard. To make sure you never miss great content like this, subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/@spiked 

On 7 January 2015, two Islamist terrorists, armed with Kalashnikovs, burst into the offices of Charlie Hebdo. 12 people were murdered, eight of them writers and cartoonists at the left-wing, satirical newspaper. Charlie’s supposed crime? It had published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The massacre sparked outpourings of solidarity, but also a cowardly, censorious backlash. Many decried the killings, but decried Charlie’s supposed ‘provocations’, too. 10 years on from the massacre, spiked went to Paris to meet with Gérard Biard, Charlie’s editor-in-chief. We discussed the attack, the fight for free speech and the crucial importance of courage.

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