When Muslims held a demonstration in London in 2006 in protest of cartoons depicting their founder, Muhammad, many bore signs warning of beheading and death for “those who insult Islam.”
Talk-radio host Michael Savage thought that amid a fierce national debate on whether or not to allow Muslims to immigrate to the United States, it would be worth considering what has been happening in Europe.
So, he posted on his Facebook page photographs of the Feb. 3, 2006, demonstration outside the Embassy of Denmark in London. The focus of protest was the publication of editorial cartoons depicting Muhammad in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. Snopes.com verified that the photographs were taken at the London demonstration, with the exception of one, which was from a protest in the English city of Luton.
Wednesday night, Facebook removed Savage’s post, explaining the social media site “determined that it violated Facebook community standards.”
Facebook has not explained why it deleted the post, but it provided a link to its “Community Standards” page, which lists “hate speech” as one of its prohibitions, along with “violence and graphic content,” and nudity.
Messages in placards held up by the London demonstrators included “Behead those who insult Islam,” “Freedom go to hell,” “Europe. Take some lessons from 9/11” and “Be prepared for the real Holocaust.”
The Facebook post on Savage’s page included text from an email that has circulated for many years:
Why would anyone think that we should be at war with such nice, peaceful Muslims?!
You need to forward this one to everyone! These pictures tell it all!
Muslims have stated that England will be the first country they take over!
These are pictures not shown on American TV or in American Newspapers – WHY?!
They were forwarded by a Canadian friend who thought ALL Americans ought to know!
The question is whether the Facebook violation was because of the hate speech exhibited by the Muslim protesters in the photographs or because of the act of posting the photographs and the text.
Savage suspects it was the latter.
He noted that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey praised Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg Thursday for Zuckerberg’s Facebook post Wednesday in support of Muslims who fear “they will be persecuted for the actions of others.”
“What more needs to be said? Erdogan is a dictator who censors all critics, banishes opposition politicians and arrests journalists,” Savage told WND.
“It would be like Hitler congratulating an American media mogul for saying, ‘Not all Germans are Nazis, and Hitler is misunderstood,'” he said.
“How can another Jewish liberal billionaire be committing cultural suicide? Why are liberal Jews so blind to their own survival? Why do they always side with their enemies?”
Savage said it’s only a matter of time before “any and all criticisms of Islam will be considered hate speech by Zuckerberg and the Obama goons.”
“I am banned in Britain and soon banned from Facebook?”
In 2009, Savage was banned from entering the U.K. by Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government, which lumped him together with Muslim jihadists and leaders of racist groups for “seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred,” as WND reported.
Last week, Attorney General Loretta Lynch told a Muslim activist group that she would prosecute anti-Muslim rhetoric that “edges toward violence,” sparking widespread criticism that prompted her to walk back the remarks.
This week, the British government posted online a citizens’ petition calling to ban Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump from entering the United Kingdom.
In May 2009, then-British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced that Savage was on a list of 16 people banned from entry because the government believed their views might provoke violence. Smith said it was “important that people understand the sorts of values and sorts of standards that we have here, the fact that it’s a privilege to come and the sort of things that mean you won’t be welcome in this country.”
A year later, Prime Minister David Cameron’s new government informed Savage it would continue the ban unless he repudiated statements made on his broadcasts that were deemed a threat to public security.
Again, the government didn’t cite any statements.
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