Film sparks debate on free speech

Esam Al-Fetori / Reuters

The deaths of the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans amid protests against a film that denigrates Islam has sparked global discussion and debate about whether there is a line between free speech and hate speech and, if so, where it lies.

"They don't regard perceived insults to the Prophet Mohammed or the Quran as being protected by free speech, they regard it as a capital offense," says Peter Bergen, CNN's national security analyst, referring to protesters in Libya and Egypt, where the U.S. Embassy was attacked, who were angered by the film.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the movie was made by a real estate developer who wanted to portray Islam as a hateful religion. The attack on the U.S. personnel in Benghazi, Libya, was orchestrated by extremists who used the protests as a diversion, U.S. sources told CNN Wednesday.

"In some of these cases, the people releasing these films or cartoons are trying to make a statement about free speech, which is fair enough," says Bergen, referring to the film and other provocative recent depictions of Mohammed, Islam's founding prophet.

"But in some cases they are deliberately trying to provoke," Bergen says. "The film that is at issue is certainly very provocative, the way it treats the Prophet Mohammed, and people who release these things are being very irresponsible."

Newt Gingrich told CNN Wednesday that the United States should seize on the violence spurred by the film "to teach the Muslim world about freedom," specifically about freedom of speech.

His remarks, echoed by other conservatives on Wednesday, signaled something of a divide in reaction to developments in Libya and Egypt between the political right, which stressed freedom of speech, and the left, which added condemnation of those behind the anti-Muslim film.

"The horrific attacks in Libya & Egypt are a stark contrast to our American ideals of free speech, civil disagreement," wrote Todd Rokita, a Republican U.S. congressman who is from Indiana, on Twitter.

Gingrich, the former presidential candidate and speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said that after the attacks, "We had an opportunity to stand up and say, 'You know, it is true -- some people in the United States might make a film that is totally whacked out.'"

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Film sparks debate on free speech