The bigoted speech of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has prompted calls for suppressing his comments, but Al Jazeera commentator Karina Piser writes that that would be ineffective. Other countries including France have tried to censor those making racist comments only to make those people more powerful. Piser argues, “Stomaching hateful views is unpleasant, but they cannot be legislated away. The answer is to respond intelligently and sharply to bigoted speech that pollutes society with fear.” (AlJazeera America, Janurary 7, 2016)
In the meantime, the Trump Organization told Fox News that a ban on Trump visiting the UK would violate the principle of free speech and establish a “dangerous precedent.” Some in the British parliament are proposing the ban concerned over Trump’s proposal to put a temporary end to Muslims entering the United States. (Time, January 6, 2016, by Lauren French)