The Hate Bill, if signed into power, could see many cartoonists and comedians facing jail terms –  a minefield headed for an explosion. Jerm recently compiled a cartoon-inspired post to highlight some problems with the bill but below he raises another concern around free speech. He was recently banned on Facebook for inciting violence, after sharing a news story – the post was intended as a defence of free speech. There is a fine line between fake news, hate speech and the real thing. Take a read and let us know what do you think? – Stuart Lowman
By Jerm*
I’ve been drawing cartoons professionally for 11 years. I’ve drawn somewhere between 5 000 and 7 000 published cartoons, a large chunk of which has been political.
Every label imaginable has been slapped onto me, from ‘racist’ to sexist’ to ‘Islamophobe’ to a vast array of boring adjectives, all of which come with zero supporting evidence. (Not that evidence matters, since narratives matter more.) One or two of South Africa’s biggest newspapers refuse to publish anything containing my signature, despite their editors knowing nothing about me and having never spoken to me. That I am able to yield such emotive responses from people who have never met me, is pretty amazing.
All because of a drawing on a piece of paper.
Or, perhaps, a one-liner on Facebook.
Speaking of which, Facebook suspended my account for thirty days (ten days ago) after I shared a news story from EWN in which the Cape Party threatened to sue an artist whose (uninspiring) “f**k white people” gallery exhibition created an expected stir. I captioned the shared post with: “The Cape Party doesn’t understand freedom of expression”.
Facebook then banned me on the grounds of “inciting violence”.
In other words, Facebook censored my defence of free speech.
We are living in a strange time. People have become more hysterical and irrational than I can remember. They will believe anything.
​Anyway.
I hope you have a great day and don’t incite too much violence.
- Jerm is South Africa’s 39th best cartoonist. Since 2005, his work has featured in newspapers, magazines, television shows, and websites across South Africa and other countries like the United States, Britain, Belgium, Germany, France, Netherlands, Namibia, and India. Some of his clients have included the Sunday Times, The Star, City Press, Rapport, Beeld, The Times, FHM, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Daily Maverick, The New Age, EWN, eNCA, TechCentral, Maroela Media, Investec, Microsoft, Webber Wentzel, Standard Bank, Animal Zone, FlySafair, Kulula.com, Bizcommunity.com, Fair Cape Dairies, Private Edition, Sage and Afrihost. Some of his political work is syndicated via the New York Times.
