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US diplomat defends defence of ‘speech we hate’

SINGAPORE— With the majority of radical websites and social media messages hosted on servers in the United States, US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Richard Stengel yesterday found himself defending America’s stance of upholding the freedoms of religion and expression, including “the speech that we hate”, in response to questions on why the US authorities are not doing more to clamp down on such communications.

From left: CEO of The Soufan Group and Former US FBI Supervisory Special Agent Ali Soufan; Brunei's Minister for Home Affairs Pehin Dato Badaruddin Othman; Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean; Secretary of Australia's Attorney General Department Chris Moraitis; US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Richard Stengel; Mufti of Singapore's Islamic Religious Council Dr Mohamed Fatris Bakaram; Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Masagos Zulkifli Bin Masagos Mohamad and Lecturer of Islamic Studies at the Faculty of Theology at Oxford University Shaykh Dato' Dr Afifi al-Akiti at the East Asia Summit (EAS) Symposium on Religious Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration in Singapore at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore yesterday. Photo: Ernest Chua

From left: CEO of The Soufan Group and Former US FBI Supervisory Special Agent Ali Soufan; Brunei's Minister for Home Affairs Pehin Dato Badaruddin Othman; Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean; Secretary of Australia's Attorney General Department Chris Moraitis; US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Richard Stengel; Mufti of Singapore's Islamic Religious Council Dr Mohamed Fatris Bakaram; Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Masagos Zulkifli Bin Masagos Mohamad and Lecturer of Islamic Studies at the Faculty of Theology at Oxford University Shaykh Dato' Dr Afifi al-Akiti at the East Asia Summit (EAS) Symposium on Religious Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration in Singapore at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore yesterday. Photo: Ernest Chua

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SINGAPORE— With the majority of radical websites and social media messages hosted on servers in the United States, US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Richard Stengel yesterday found himself defending America’s stance of upholding the freedoms of religion and expression, including “the speech that we hate”, in response to questions on why the US authorities are not doing more to clamp down on such communications.

“The great Justice (Louis) Brandeis once said that the idea of free speech is not to protect the speech that we love, but the speech that we hate,” Mr Stengel said.

While he acknowledged that it is a “sensitive and controversial” issue, Mr Stengel stressed that the freedom of religion and free expression are key tenets of American society.

Mr Stengel was among the panellists during a discussion at the East Asia Summit Symposium on Religious Rehabilitation and Social Integration.

Fellow panellist Professor Rohan Gunaratna, from the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore, asked Mr Stengel why the US could not “take a tough position”. “Unless you address this, everyday there will be sympathisers and supporters of terrorist groups,” he said, to applause from the audience.

Mr Stengel said the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) generates between 20,000 to 40,000 social media messages daily and manages over 9,800 websites. ISIS has reportedly started its own social media network, 5elafabook, after Facebook and Twitter clamped down on thousands of ISIS-related accounts in recent months.

Mr Stengel felt that social networks can be harnessed to disseminate “credible voices” rejecting terrorism.

“(Social media) is a powerful tool for them, but it should be an even more powerful tool for us.”

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