Voices: Plenty of restrictions on expression in Europe

Berlin -- When the satirists in Denmark and later France initially printed cartoons lampooning the Prophet Muhammad in 2005, they said they wanted to promote debate – but especially freedom of speech and press.

Hmmm, I thought. That's interesting. They do this to push for something they already have.

At that point, I was still relatively new to reporting on Europe, but I believed Europeans enjoyed the same press and speech freedoms we Americans do.

Then came last week's attack on satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, which ridiculed Islam as well as popes and everyone else, that left 12 dead. This was widely seen as an attack on freedom of speech and press.

Having lived in Europe for more than a decade now, the truth is, press and speech freedoms are already restricted – not just by extremists – but by rules and customs that have developed organically.

Let's take speech first: It is illegal to deny the Holocaust in some countries, among them Germany, where certain songs, books and gear that refer to the Nazis are banned. People are prosecuted under these laws, most famously Ernst Zuendel 2007. He was released from jail in 2010.

It's also illegal in some places to incite hatred. Right-wing politician Geert Wilders of the Party of Freedom was tried in the Netherlands for incitement of hatred and discrimination against Muslims. He was found not guilty in 2011.

I wonder when some clever lawyer will try to sue newspapers for printing anti-Islam cartoons on these grounds. Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy tried this approach against rappers he deemed anti-Semitic in 2003 (before he became president).

I might dislike anti-Semite or anti-Islamist messages but in the spirit of Voltaire, I would defend their right to say it.

It gets even worse. In Germany and Belgium, you can be fined for insulting someone. A few years ago, an American acquaintance was brought up on charges for gesturing to a motorist that he was driving idiotically. The reason my acquaintance got off: The hand gesture he used is not "officially" recognized in German as an insult.

And in Ireland, blasphemy is still on the books as illegal.

Press freedoms are another story. In France, the media is pretty free to write what it wants -- except when it comes to companies in the luxury sector France is famous for, brands such as Chanel and Hermes. Executives often insist on approving their quotes.

Here in Germany, the quote approval dance has become an art form. Government officials, lawyers and academics alike tend to insist on getting the last word on how they are quoted. They review their remarks, revise and extend them, then "authorize" them for publication.

Sometimes, sources will just cross out entire sections, or replace sentences with ones they think sound better, or soften what they think sounds too controversial.

The Americans reporters I know in Germany resist this practice, hard. Often I tell sources, "Sorry, my publication doesn't allow me to do that." Sometimes the speakers cave, sometimes they don't.

But sometimes we just don't have a choice. We won't get access to the person again unless we play by the local rules, because everyone else does.

For German reporters, the situation is worse. In 2003, a group of big newspapers in Germany tried to stop the practice, saying it infringed on press freedoms and manipulated stories, and ultimately readers. The initiative went nowhere because some hugely influential news outlets didn't participate – they get the big interviews.

Some use litigation in an effort to control the message. Last year, the German Interior Ministry took the public watchdog website Frag den Staat to court over an internal ministry report the website published for – get this – copyright violations. Fortunately, the courts didn't buy it.

Meanwhile, laws that favor plaintiffs bringing libel and defamation suits in the UK and Ireland chill press freedoms in those countries, leading to journalists censoring themselves.

I hope that after rallying to declare solidarity in the face of the terrorist attack on the cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo, journalists, activists and the public will focus on getting rid of misguided laws and terrible practices that stifle journalism and speech more than terrorists ever will.

Bhatti, a correspondent in Berlin, is managing editor of Associated Reporters Abroad.