Even in "free world", there exists various pressure groups who tend to arm-twist the "undesirable" voices, but I'm not aware of any group in our times - other than Islamists - that uses voilence and death threats as a means to enforce censorship.



http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1887929,00.html

Never mind that Voltaire probably never said exactly what is so often attributed to him: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." That famous quotation seems to have originated in an early 20th-century paraphrase. But this was indeed the spirit of Voltaire.

The order of phrases is vital. Too many recent responses in such cases - from the Rushdie affair onward - have had this backhanded syntax: "Of course I defend his/her freedom of expression, but..." The Voltaire principle gets it the right way round: first the dissent, but then the unconditional solidarity. Now we are all called upon to play our part. The future of freedom depends on words prevailing over knives.