In January 2015, after the assassination of eleven workers at the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, by the Kourachi brothers, the Internet was flooded with "Je Suis Charlie" logos.
There was a mass outpouring of sympathy for the people killed and defiant anger at those who would murder to suppress satire.
A year later , Stéphane Charbonnier's ""Open Letter: On Blasphemy, Islamophobia, And The True Enemies Of Free Expression" was published posthumously.
In it, the Editor in Chief, who was one of those murdered, defended the value of using satire to humble the mighty, challenge the dangerous, mock the dogmatic and generally make people see each other as people rather than a set of factions, religions and races.
The pamphlet received a lot of support in the press including an article in The Washington Post praising Charbonnier's stance against the spreading of hatred.
In August this year, the mountain town of Amatrice was destroyed by an earthquake. 281 people died. Many more were injured. Everyone lost their home.
Charlie Hebdo's response was the cartoon below.
This is not satire being used to fight oppression or challenge hatred. This is just cruel.
The town of Amatrice is now suing Charlie Hebdo.
I hope they win.
Charlie Hebdo has lost its way.
I think it's time to to have a new set of Charlie Hebdo logos on the Internet.
I recommend WTF Charlie?
2
