Cartoon Movement

An Open Letter to Mark Zuckerberg

Cartoonists have fallen victim to Facebook moderation (or in stronger terms: censorship) more and more in recent months. Here are two (1,2) recent examples of cartoons that were removed from Facebook, probably because they include symbols that refer to Nazi Germany.

Even more serious is a recent cartoon by Thai cartoonist Stephff about Myanmar and the Rohingya that was deleted by Facebook. In this instance the most likely scenario is that the cartoon was removed because it was reported by someone who did not agree with the opinion stated in the cartoon. This does beg the question: did this cartoon cross a line (by showing graphic violence), or is this a case of censorship by Facebook, removing critical journalistic content? We think the latter. Stephff has written an open letter to Facebook, which was also published by Thai newspaper The Nation:

 I have been a daily political cartoonist since 20 years now . On Thursday evening I received a notice from Facebook that I have violated Facebook rules by publishing on my Facebook page 'Stephff Tribal Art' the cartoon above , therefore it was suppressed and I am asked to comply with 'Facebook rules' or else.

There was no possibility to argue - no button I could press to defend myself against this serious misunderstanding . What are these 'Facebook rules' exactly? That we cannot complain about a genocide in the making because some ultranationalist, xenophobic Burmese netizens have complained to Facebook? What about those same netizens who are spreading a campaign of hatred against the Rohingyas with the help of their compatriot cartoonists? What about all these racist Burmese people who have come to insult me on my page each time I have published a cartoon about the Rohingya tragedy?

What is exactly Facebook's policy? To stop the people who try to bring some substantial fight against bad things happening in this World and allow only people who publish pictures of their lunch?

Why don't you employ real people with a brain to judge if a cartoon is racist or if - on contrary - it fights against racism. Because apparently your stupid algorithms are far from being able to tell the difference. I can't believe you are siding with the very same people who are supporting the oppression and killings of the Rohingya people. Is this the 'better World' Facebook is trying to build where we cannot criticize harshly a genocide in the making?

Statement About Prophet Muhammad Cartoon Contest

After receiving numerous threats of violence, condemnations and calls for a boycott of Dutch products on our Facebook page, we feel we need to make an official statement regarding the Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest organized by Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders later this year.

Because we are a cartoon organization located in the Netherlands, some people presume we support this initiative. We do not.

This cartoon contest is asking cartoonists to draw the Prophet Muhammad. Depictions of the Prophet are considered blasphemous by many Muslims. Geert Wilders claims that this competition is to show that freedom of speech should never bow down to region.

 

Screenshot from Facebook: some of the comments we have received.

 

We agree. With the last statement, that is. We don’t agree with this competition. To us, Wilders’ initiative has much in common with the Holocaust cartoon contest organized a few years back by Iran. In both contests, cartoonists are asked to mock a specific subject with the aim of insulting a specific group of people. In the case of Iran, the aim was to insult Jews; in the case of Wilders, the aim is to insult Muslims. In both these contests, cartoons are wielded as a political weapon, to attack a specific group. Cartoons should never be used in this way.

However, we do agree that free speech overrides religion. And we strongly condemn the threats we have received by people who feel insulted over what is, in essence, a few lines on paper. In this case, these lines haven’t even been drawn yet.

Islam, like other religions (or any institution that wields power) is a legitimate target of satire, if that satire is aimed at exposing wrongs and injustices. And satire should never be afraid to be blasphemous to achieve this aim. We have no problem with depicting the Prophet Muhammad in a cartoon, if that cartoon is a legitimate criticism of Islam. But Mr. Wilders is not aiming for a meaninful critique of religion, or to start a thoughtful debate about religion and satire. He’s simply out to insult Muslims. And that’s something we do not want to be a part of.

The Cartoon Movement

New Cartoonists from Jordan, Uzbekistan and Italy

We are expanding our global community of cartoonists with talented artists from Jordan, Uzbekistan and Italy!

 

Mahmoud Rifai - Jordan

Mahmoud Rifai is a cartoonist from Amman, Jordan. His work has been published in various Jordanian daily newspapers. He has also worked as animator and art director for various studios and production companies. He is the Secretary of the Jordanian Cartoonist Community. Check out his Facebook page to see more of his work.

 

Muzaffar Yulchiboev - Uzbekistan

Muzaffar Yulchiboev is a cartoonist from Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He graduated from the National Institute of Arts and Design in 2016 and current works as a theatrical painting artist in a theater, in addition to working as a cartoonist. He has won several awards with his cartoons.

 

Maurizio Boscarol - Italy

 Maurizio Boscarol is a cartoonist and graphic journalism (making longford comics) for online and print publications.

Summer Break

Image by Luc Vernimmen

The Cartoon Movement team is taking a break. Our newsroom will of course stay open, but we'll not be publishing new cartoons or be active on social media for the next three weeks. We’ll be back on August 13 with daily cartoons, new comics, projects and more!

For those of you who have submitted cartoons for our UN Human Rights project, we’ll be making the selection of cartoons that will be included in this project at the end of August, and we will inform you then.

For editors interesting in republishing cartoons, our shop is open 24/7, with cartoons instantly available in high resolution.

New Cartoonist: Mohsen Zarifian

Mohsen Zarifian is an award-winning freelance cartoonist from Iran. He has been a professional cartoonist since 1991, collaborating with many major newspapers and magazines in Iran.

New Cartoonist: Santiago Cornejo

CORNE (Santiago Cornejo) is an Argentinean cartoonist that works for humor magazines around the world like MAD (Germany) and Nebelspalter (Switzerland). He has published three cartoon books and illustrated over 30 children's books. He is also editor of 'Catrasca', a cartoon magazine that is published weekly or daily inside more than 50 Spanish speaking newspapers. Check out his website to see more of his work.

New Cartoonist: Adrian Palmas

Adrian Palmas is an award-winning cartoonist from Argentina. His work has been published by media in Argentina and the United States.

New Cartoonist: Amin Montazeri

Amin Montazeri is a illustrator, designer, animator and cartoonist from Tehran, Iran. His work has been awarded several times and has been featured in numerous exhibitions in Iran and abroad.

Cartoon Exhibiton at the Center for Persecuted Arts

This weekend, the exhibition Neunte Kunst - Cartooning for Peace opened in the Center of Persecuted Arts in Solingen Germany. The exhibition, created and curated by Jürgen Kaumkötter and CM cartoonist Talal Nayer shows the work of a number of international artists, including many CM members.

The exhibition will be on display until September 16, so if you find yourself in the area, we highly recommend you take a look.

Neunte Kunst - Cartooning for Peace
Zentrum für verfolgte Künste in Solingen, Germany
Curators: Talal Nayer Talal and Jürgen Kaumkötter
Cooperation-parter: Cartooning For Peace
More information

Participating artists:
Agim Sulaj, Anthony Garner, Aristides Hernandez Guerrero (ARES), Constantin Sunnerberg, Constantin Pavel, Darko Drljevic, Ernst Volland, Firuz Kutal, Ivailo Tsvetkov, Vladimir Kazanevsky, Luc Descheemaeker, Luc Vernimmen, Oleksiy Kustovsky, Paco Baca, Peter Nieuwendijk, Tjeerd Royaards, Nayer Talal, Michel Kichka, Victor Bogorad

New cartoonist: Olivier Ploux

Olivier Ploux is a graphic designer and illustrator from France. Visit his website to see more of his work.