FT.com reports that the EU is introducing laws all across its member states that criminalize the trivialization of the Holocaust.

My first thought was, so now nobody can invoke Godwin’s Law?

The latest draft, seen by the Financial Times, will make it mandatory for all Union member states to punish public incitement “to violence or hatred directed against a group of persons or a member of such a group defined by reference to race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin”.

They will also have to criminalise “publicly condoning, denying or grossly trivialising crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes” when such statements incite hatred or violence against minorities.

(skipping)

They also stressed that the wording was designed to avoid criminalising comical plays or films about the Holocaust such as the Italian comedian Roberto Benigni’s prize-winning Life is Beautiful. The text expressly upholds countries’ constitutional traditions relating to the freedom of expression.

I understand where this is coming from. This is a people grasping at anything to prevent the repetition of mistakes from the past. I think the action, though, is misguided.

Even if you don’t like what is being said, it is better if it is heard rather than squelched. If you’re ignorant or malevolent, I want to know it. I would rather you burn an American flag in protest (not that I like such an action) than for you to get disgruntled and physically harm people. I want to see the occasional Muslim leader, whether from Malaysia or Iran, make factual errors about the Holocaust, just to give society the display of what is going on in these people’s heads. I want to know who is against what I believe. I want idiocy on display, as long as the facts are present to refute the idiot’s arguments.

Justice Stephen Breyer in a rare moment of clarity said, “The remedy for speech you don’t like is not less speech. It’s more speech.” If Europe is afraid that its history is being lost, it needs to teach more history.