Public Opinions on Freedom of Speech and Prohibited Hate Speech against Islam and Muslims

Abstract

This article scrutinizes the public debate in Sweden that followed the heated riots that took place with the burning of the Quran that were conduct by Rasmus Paludan in spring 2022. The Easter holiday in 2022, that coincided with Ramadan, served as the backdrop for the Danish-Swedish provoker Rasmus Paludan. Our study is based on a close reading of 71 public opinion articles that were published during April and May 2022, i.e., just after the so-called Easter riots. We argue that the discussion that followed Paludan’s public rallies in Sweden unfolds a dilemma between on the one hand freedom of speech and freedom of religion on the other. By deploying a critical discourse analyses this study helps us to notice the discursive orders that regulated the debate but more over toward what new interdiscursive patterns it was moving. The overall results indicates that the riots are mainly viewed as a result of a failed multicultural policy in which Islam is talked about as an obstacle for liberal democracy and thus freedom of speech. For example, material reasons, poverty, unemployment, racism is largely left out of the debate.

Keywords

• Rasmus Paludan, Quran burning, Sweden, Freedom of Speech, Islamophobia