The letter warns that “free exchange of ideas” is getting tighter every day.
London:
Renowned authors such as Salman Rushdie, JK Rowling and Margaret Atwood are among some 150 writers, artists and activists to sign an open letter, warning of the rise of “forces of illiberalism” affecting freedom of expression .
The group, which also includes American activist Naom Chomsky and Indian historian Meera Nanda, warns that the spread of “censorship” leads to “intolerance of opposing opinions” and “a vogue for public shame and ostracism.” “.
The open letter, published in Tuesday’s Harper’s Magazine, recognizes the Black Lives Matter movement and other powerful protests for racial and social justice, which lead to long-awaited demands for police reform, as well than broader calls for greater equality and inclusion across our society.
“But this necessary calculation has also intensified a new set of moral attitudes and political commitments that tend to weaken our standards of open debate and tolerance of differences in favor of ideological conformity,” he notes.
“While we applaud the first development, we also raise our voices against the second. The forces of illiberalism are gaining strength around the world and have a powerful ally in (US President) Donald Trump, who poses a real threat to democracy, “he added. bed.
The letter warns that the “free exchange of information and ideas”, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is becoming more restricted every day.
“While we expect it from the radical right, censorship is also spreading more widely in our culture: intolerance of opposing opinions, a vogue for public shame and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex political issues in blinding moral certainty. “, he added.
The letter also condemns the “disproportionate sanctions” inflicted on targets of public shame by institutional leaders carrying out “panic damage control”.
He continues to warn of the fear that is spreading through the arts and the media.
“We are already paying the price in greater risk aversion among writers, artists and journalists who fear for their livelihoods if they stray from consensus, or even lack sufficient zeal in agreement” he says.
There was a big response online to the letter, the Censorship Index calling it “an important letter on open debate”, but it has also been criticized as an overreaction in some quarters.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
