Mehdi Hasan, the political director of Huffington Post UK, said at a recent event that press organizations should be penalized for grossly misleading or inaccurate coverage of Muslims. Hasan was sharing his frustrations, according to The Guardian, with the “negative, mad, crazy, over the top, dishonest, demonising press coverage” of Muslims.
And he honestly believes that some of this coverage is so dangerous, that news outlets that continue to perpetuate it should be penalized. “We’re not going to get change unless there is some sanction, there is some penalty,” he said, “This is not just about Muslims; it is about all minorities.”
This story about Hasan’s comments ran just a few days ago and has gotten some attention on social media in the intervening time (some constructive, some… not so much):
Mehdi Hasan wants press censorship: "This is not just abt Muslims; it is abt all minorities.”
Fuck off, Mehdi. Find your own human shields.
— Damian Counsell (@PootBlog) November 17, 2014
http://t.co/JzFf1wQjXB freedom of speech @mehdirhasan wants tht stopped.Time2say.Fascist supremism ignorant arsehole pic.twitter.com/cjeL0GBoO3
— SayAye (@DowHeater) November 16, 2014
Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) attempts to silence negative media reports of the negative acts of Muslims and Islam:
http://t.co/VEcu1DcUaF
— Antonio Ballista (@antonioballista) November 17, 2014
HuffPo UK columnist Mehdi Hasan goes full fascist, calls for sanctions for criticism of Muslims http://t.co/dsbOQRoA4N
— Bob Miller (@Miller51550) November 16, 2014
HuffPo UK political director Mehdi Hassan has come up with a really stupid and dangerous idea http://t.co/qtqZfwyQhx
— Michael C Moynihan (@mcmoynihan) November 17, 2014
"I'm all in favor of free speech, but…" is to free speech what "I'm not a racist, but…" is to racism. http://t.co/p32GlGcIns
— Radley Balko (@radleybalko) November 17, 2014
There was one response Hasan found uniquely troubling, and called attention to it:
@DowHeater @mehdirhasan The man is so loved by the left wing media. Inn reality he is one of a group of muslim racists. He should be shot.
— AngryEnglishJon (@AngryEnglishJon) November 17, 2014
Dear @metpoliceuk and @twitter, does this count as incitement to violence? This lovely man wants me "shot":
https://t.co/CJHxrDnCsy
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) November 17, 2014
For his part, Hasan did issue a follow-up statement to The Guardian clarifying his position:
“I’m all in favour of free speech and the robust criticism of all religious beliefs. But it’s the made-up stories and the smearing of individuals and whole communities that I have an issue with. ‘Why isn’t anti-Muslim bigotry as unacceptable in the press as anti-Jewish bigotry?’ That’s the question that needs answering.”
[image via screengrab]
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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac
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