The European policy toward hate speech reflects the “paradox of tolerance” theory of the Austrian-born British philosopher Karl Popper. In The Open Society and Its Enemies, he wrote that “unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant . . . then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. . . . We should claim the right to suppress [intolerance] if necessary even by force.”116 Popper published this in 1945, with Europe suffering enough intolerance to last a millennium. As Europe forged a new
...more

