The debate over freedom of speech and the right to be blasphemous has resurfaced in France. A teenager has spoken out against Islam and all religions and has now become a hate figure online. The tensions are a reminder of the debate surrounding the blasphemous cartoons published by satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.
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In This Story: Charlie Hebdo
On 7 January 2015 at about 11:30am CET local time, two brothers, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, forced their way into the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Armed with rifles and other weapons, they killed 12 people and injured 11 others. The gunmen identified themselves as belonging to the terrorist group al-Qaeda.
Several related attacks followed in the Île-de-France region on 7–9 January 2015, including the Hypercacher kosher supermarket siege.
Charlie Hebdo is a publication that courted controversy with satirical attacks on political and religious leaders. It published cartoons of Muhammad in 2012, forcing France to temporarily close embassies and schools in more than 20 countries amid fears of reprisals. Its offices were also firebombed in November 2011 after publishing a caricature of Muhammad on its cover.