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This chapter contributes to reflection around the relationship between graphic humour and the different types of power in contemporary societies, asking how far cartoonists can go in the exercise of their critical activities without interference and understanding how—even in liberal regimes, where freedom of the press itself is constitutionally guaranteed—there can be favourable conditions for the appearance of censorship mechanisms that could restrict and reduce the activities of cartoonists. In April 2019, a cartoon by the Portuguese artist António published in the international edition of the New York Times became the subject of a huge controversy. The drawing depicted the president of the United States as a blind Jewish figure guided by a dog representing the prime minister of Israel. Because it contained too many obvious tropes, the image was immediately classified in the public sphere as carrying a clearly antisemitic message, which prompted condemnatory attitudes from various quarters of American society and from the White House itself. Weeks later, the NYT ceased publishing cartoons, creating a species of preventive self-censorship. This is a discussion about freedom of opinion. At the outside, this is also a debate on the current state of democracy and its future.

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A Blind Man and a Dog Walk into a Cartoon: The Limits of Humour, Antisemitism and Racism and Informal Censorship in the Contemporary Liberal Press

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年

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  • Paulo Jorge Fernandes

摘要

This chapter contributes to reflection around the relationship between graphic humour and the different types of power in contemporary societies, asking how far cartoonists can go in the exercise of their critical activities without interference and understanding how—even in liberal regimes, where freedom of the press itself is constitutionally guaranteed—there can be favourable conditions for the appearance of censorship mechanisms that could restrict and reduce the activities of cartoonists. In April 2019, a cartoon by the Portuguese artist António published in the international edition of the New York Times became the subject of a huge controversy. The drawing depicted the president of the United States as a blind Jewish figure guided by a dog representing the prime minister of Israel. Because it contained too many obvious tropes, the image was immediately classified in the public sphere as carrying a clearly antisemitic message, which prompted condemnatory attitudes from various quarters of American society and from the White House itself. Weeks later, the NYT ceased publishing cartoons, creating a species of preventive self-censorship. This is a discussion about freedom of opinion. At the outside, this is also a debate on the current state of democracy and its future.