**EU Justice Commissioner calls for media code as Muslim cartoons controversy rages **
EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini said in an interview published Thursday that the EU may draw up a new media code of conduct to forestall any repetition of the global controversy now raging over the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in European newspapers. Speaking to the London Telegraph newspaper, he noted that Muslims felt “humiliated” by the drawings and urged European media to agree to a charter that would allow them to “self-regulate” when reporting on religion, emphasizing that “the exercising of a right is always the assumption of a responsibility”. In this way, he said,the press will give the Muslim world the message: we are aware of the consequences of exercising the right of free expression, we can and we are ready to self-regulate that right.
The contemplated code would be drawn up by press outlets themselves with the assistance of the European Commission; it would not have formal legal status and would not be legally enforceable by EU authorities against offenders, but could have a persuasive and informally mitigating effect. Frattini first sought to intervene in the cartoons controversy Tuesday, when he issued a statement [text; JURIST report] calling the publication of the Muhammad caricatures “somewhat imprudent,” while acknowledging that freedom of expression was a “‘founding principle’ of most European nations.”
Re: EU calls for media code to stop future insults to religions
The fact that the EU is even talking about regulating media conduct, and that the Danes are whining about no support from western states, shows the success of the Muslim protest movement. :k: