People hold placards reading 'Je suis Charlie' (I am Charlie) during a silent gathering in Montpellier, southern France, 7 January 2015, after the attack by masked gunmen on the satirical newspaper 'Charlie Hebdo' headquarters in Paris earlier the same day. - EPA/GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO
THERE is no doubt that the brutal attack on French satirical paper Charlie Hebdo on Jan 7, 2015 deserves condemnation. The immediate response in social media, particularly #JeSuisCharlie and the rather belatedly #JeSuisAhmed helped to galvanize online sentiment and spur debate surrounding freedom of speech, the nature of satire, national security, xenophobia, rise of the extreme right, (de)legitimizing hate speech, and the radicalization of minority communities.
In this article, I would like to draw some attention to the question of representation and the role that media plays.
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