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Boosting #circulation at any cost: The decline of freedom of speech

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The president of Equatorial Guinea has been subjected to racism on the Daily Mail's website.

Even the best idea carried to the point of absurdity is known to morph into its opposite. This is exactly what’s going on with such a fundamental principle as freedom of speech, which is now degenerating into a primitive social leverage – only the one who cries louder than others will be heard.

The above point is clearly illustrated by an article entitled 'Brutal Central African dictator who rules his country with an iron-fist and skins enemies alive and eats their testicles' published on the Daily Mail's website on 9 September.

The formidable 'cannibal' referred to in the article is Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (pictured), president of Equatorial Guinea. The author allegedly found out about his atrocities from Severo Moto, Mbasogo’s fellow citizen, who has been living in Spain for many years calling himself an opposition leader and is an opposition member, a key participant of a few failed coups and the bitterest enemy to the president.

No other evidence to support the information and no names of the people who suffered from the gastronomic predilections of the president are mentioned in the article. Given that Equatorial Guinea is a small country with a population of less than one million, these bloodcurdling stories will go viral as quick as a forest fire.

However, the author seems to be comfortable with that. On writing a couple of paragraphs about cannibalism, he concludes that he has intrigued and hooked readers, and then he switches to corruption. Luxuriating elites, poor masses, and a long-elected president are the clichéd accusations used by Western journalists who write about Africa. In our case, the author referred also to Severo Moto, who stated Obiang came to believe in his impeccability and that he was in direct contact with God.

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The last point is impossible to prove, as faith is a very personal aspect, no matter whether it is of a politician or not. However, Obiang is known to focus on the development of parishes and visit Mass and a month ago, he made a pilgrimage to Vatican. The first audience between the President and Pope Francis was in 2013, and there are strong doubts that the pontiff blessed Obiang concerning skinning his opponents alive or eating parts of their bodies.

We are not going to advocate the president of Equatorial Guinea as he cannot live to please everyone around him. In fact, he has been continuously in power since 1979. And indeed, Equatorial Guinea is the third-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa, with a GDP per capita comparable to that of Portugal. This is a resource-rich country with good prospects, thus, it has numerous ill-wishers.

A clearly defined Pan-African tendency in external politics neither contributes to Obiang’s appeal. He believes that the fate of Africa and its natural resources should be managed by Africans themselves, and the resource-rich Equatorial Guinea should become one of the wealthiest and advanced countries on the continent.

Only time will tell whether he will succeed. Anyway, his countrymen will definitely give him an estimate over time. After all, it’s not Obiang who is compromised, it’s an attitude towards the freedom of speech, a most significant achievement of a human civilization. Nobody is entitled to label a person as a cannibal based on allegations of his or her foe. And by the way, would the Daily Mail dare insult a European president by saying he is “reportedly” a cannibal?

If a reputed media analyzes the state of affairs in any country and seeks impartiality, a reference to opinions obtained from people like Severo Moto just harms the media’s reputation. In addition, the author must consider his readers to be morons if he hopes they would buy into that nonsense about cannibalism and a direct link with God. On reading the first few lines, a sound man would have an irresistible desire to figuratively wash the dirt from his body, not keep on reading.

An argument like eating the testicles of political rivals could have been appropriate among some enemy tribes in the Iron Age, not in a still civilized country of today such as Great Britain.

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EU Reporter publishes articles from a variety of outside sources which express a wide range of viewpoints. The positions taken in these articles are not necessarily those of EU Reporter.

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