Re: Western standards regarding freedom of speech
Yes, I read that article a few days ago. And I agree there seems to be hypocrisy in certain European countries regarding freedom of speech. But in Scandinavia, Holocaust Denial is not outlawed. You can deny Holocaust to your heart’s content. You will be condemned, you might get fired (just like expressing hatred against Muslims and immigrants can get you fired), but you can not be prosecuted in a court of law. There is no law which prohibits denial of holocaust.
About repercussion for expressing contrarian views. One incident I remember from the top of my head, which occurred in Sweden. A magazine called Ordfront published articles which held contrarian views on the Yugoslav Wars. Initially there was no reaction against it, but once the mainstream media picked up on these articles, Ordfront ended up firing several journalists and even their managing editor. They tried to conceal the reason behind these sackings, but eventually it caused an uproar, and Ordfront were sentenced to pay compensation to Mr Eklund, the managing editor who was sacked.
I am unable to google translate the article pertaining to it from swedish to english.
Obviously the views Mr Eklund and his journalists presented, were reprehensible.