To Ban or Not to Ban Blasphemous Videos

Abstract

When the United States did not ban the Innocence of Muslims video in September 2012, world leaders and scholars began debating whether the United States was exempting itself from international law. The Article seeks to unpack this international law question by examining what the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the key international human rights treaty on freedom of expression, provides on whether blasphemous or otherwise offensive speech must be banned by States Parties to the Treaty. The Article then examines the negotiating history of the key ICCPR provision as well as relevant state practice. The views of independent experts in the UN’s human rights machinery are considered as well. The Article concludes that not banning the anti-Islam video was in line with the existing international human rights law regime.

Keywords: freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, international human rights law, blasphemy

JEL Classification: K33