194 cases
Third part of this compilation that I started in 2014. It is a list with summaries of cases grouped by different periods.
It has been chopped up because, even when summarising a lot, they were too long and became uncomfortable to read and also made it difficult to load the page.
This third list will publish cases from 2020 to 2022, so I hope I won't have to update it too much.
The previous two instalments can be found here.
Humour in trouble (I). Cases from 1978 to 2016
Humour in trouble (II). Cases from 2017 to 2019
Humour in trouble (IV). Cases from 2023 onwards
Total cases: 194
2022 Argentina / Nik
In September 2022, Gregorio Dalbón, Cristina Kirchner's lawyer, announced on his Twitter account that he will denounce Nik for a cartoon in which vice-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner appears to be leading the president on a leash like a dog sticking out its tongue.
2022 Canada / Marcel Bodreau
On 17 August, the French-language Canadian newspaper L'Acadie Nouvelle de New Brunswick removed from its website a cartoon by Marcel Boudreau that some considered Islamophobic and racist.
2022 Spain / Laplace
The newspaper La Vanguardia withdrew an instalment of the classic 1985 humorous pastime Laplace's 8 Mistakes, which was republished in the paper, after complaints from some readers who considered the scene to be racist.
2022 Canada / Steve Nease
Canadian media group Metroland Media, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation, has apologised for a cartoon depicting indigenous people demanding financial compensation from the Pope for the physical and sexual abuse they suffered between 1831 and 1996 by the Catholic Church.
2022 Spain / Diana Raznovich
Judges, with their complaints, forced the removal of a cartoon by Diana Raznovich from an exhibition on micromachistos in the Balearic Islands. The author denounced the censorship and asked for the cartoon to be reinstated.
2021 Spain / Javi Salado - La Tribuna de Albacete
The daily La Tribuna de Albacete and its cartoonist, Javi Salado, apologised for this cartoon published on Sunday, 28 November, which readers considered to contain a racist message.
2021 Tanzania / Optatus Fwema
The Tanzanian cartoonist was arrested at his home on 23 September and interrogated without legal representation or the presence of family members in connection with alleged "cyber crimes". After two weeks in jail, he was released without charge pending trial.
2021 Jordan / Osama Hajjaj
Osama Hajjaaj was notified of a complaint filed by two lawyers that resulted in legal proceedings for religious offences under Article 150 of the Penal Code and Article 15 of the Cybercrime Law for one of his cartoons.
2021 India/ Manjul
On 8 June, four days after popular political cartoonist Manjul received a notice from Twitter warning him that the Indian authorities had asked the social network to take action against his account, he was fired with "immediate effect" from Network 18.
2021 Iran/ Hadi Heidari
Iranian cartoonist Hadi Heidari (Tehran, 1977) and three journalists from the daily Sazandegi have been summoned to court. They will have to face legal proceedings after being denounced for insulting the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament.
2021 USA/ Bill Bramhall
Bramhall, an editorial cartoonist for the Daily News, was criticised for a joke that some called racist. The newspaper defended the cartoon, denying any intention to send a racist message, and modified the image for its print version.
2021 USA/ Bill Pat Bagley
Members of Utah's congressional delegation issued a statement in response to a cartoon by Pat Bagley published on 9 April in The Salt Lake Tribune. In their text they call the cartoon insulting and disgusting and ask the newspaper to immediately withdraw it and apologise.
2021 Egypt/Ashraf Hamdi
"They are arresting me". With this terse message on his Facebook account, Egyptian cartoonist Ashraf Hamdi announced his arrest on 24 January shortly after posting a video tribute to the 2011 uprising on the tenth anniversary of the first mass demonstrations that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
2021 Malaysia/Zunar
Popular cartoonist "Zunar" faced another possible jail term of up to 3 years for a cartoon posted on his social media criticising Kedah state chief Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor's decision to cancel the celebration of Thaipusam, a Hindu religious holiday usually celebrated by the Tamil community on 28 January.
2021 France/ Xavier Gorce
French cartoonist Xavier Gorce announced he was quitting Le Monde after the newspaper apologised for a cartoon about a sexual abuse scandal. In her apology to readers, Le Monde editor-in-chief Caroline Monnot said the cartoon should not have been published.
2021 Algeria/ Walid Kechida
The 25-year-old Algerian Walid Kechida was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 500,000 dinars (approx. 3000 euros) for publishing memes satirizing the state and religion, according to the National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees(CNLD).
2020 Spain / Mongolia
The Supreme Court upheld the sentence of 40,000 euros to the satirical magazine Mongolia for infringement of the right to honour of José Ortega Cano for a 2016 photomontage that the magazine used to advertise a show in Cartagena. Mongolia launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds to pay the fine and announced that it would appeal the ruling to the Constitutional Court.
2020 Mexico / Rapé
Mexican cartoonist Rafael Pineda, alias "Rapé" (Monero), reported that on Sunday, 4 October, he received death threats against him and his family. The cartoonist received a reply from the National Guard requesting more information on the matter and the support of numerous people, including many colleagues.
2020 France/ Espé
The French cartoonist "Espé" was fired just after his first cartoon was published in a new section of the newspaper L'Humanité. The author of the article in which the cartoon appeared was also fired. The newspaper called the cartoon "degrading and sexist", apologised to readers and to cyclist and presenter Marion Rousse, who considered the cartoon disparaging to her work and insulting to women.
2021 Malaysia/Zunar
Popular cartoonist "Zunar" faced another possible jail term of up to 3 years for a cartoon posted on his social media criticising Kedah state chief Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor's decision to cancel the celebration of Thaipusam, a Hindu religious holiday usually celebrated by the Tamil community on 28 January.
2020 USA/ Bill Pat Bagley
A cartoon by Pat Bagley in The Salt Lake Tribune newspaper in Salt Lake City, Utah, led to a statement from the Utah Sheriffs' Association, the Republican Party and other groups, which called for the image to be removed and for the newspaper and the cartoonist to retract and apologise.
2020 USA/ Michael Ramirez
A cartoon by conservative cartoonist Michael Ramirez, published on 16 August in the Southeast Missouri newspaper, provoked another episode of anger and accusations of racism in the media, which published a note in which they claimed to have received complaints and even threats.
2020 France/ Valeurs Actuelle
A cartoon in a comic strip by Pascal Garnier sparked a controversy in France, the images accompanied a text published in the French far-right magazine "Valeurs Actuelle", in which the French-Gabonese MP Danièle Obono was portrayed as a slave. On 31 August, the Paris prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation into the French weekly for racist libel.
2020 USA/ Mike Luckovitch
The local newspaper, The Laconia Daily Sun (Laconia, New Hampshire), announced that it was ceasing to publish editorial cartoons following criticism of the publication of a cartoon by Mike Luckovitch. Complaints from a number of people also included the local police union.
2020 Jordan / Emad Hajjaj
Jordanian cartoonist Emad Hajjaj was arrested on Wednesday 25 August allegedly for a cartoon about the Israel-United Arab Emirates deal that was deemed "insulting" to the country. The cartoon was published in Al Araby Al Jadeed (New Arab), a London-based pan-Arab media outlet.
2020 USA/ Wylie School District
A cartoon about George Floyd by David Fitzsimmons, "Fitz", originally published in May 2020 in the Arizona Daily Star newspaper that was later added to an exercise for Wylie District eighth graders prompted the governor of the state of Texas to call for an investigation and demand the firing of a teacher for comparing police to the Ku Klux Klan. The police also issued a public apology.
2020 Australia /Johannes Leak - The Australian
A strip by Johannes Leak that appeared in The Australian newspaper on 13 August was criticised as racist and other things by journalists, members of the public and even some politicians, who called on the newspaper to apologise for its publication.
2020 Argentina/ Sendra
A cartoon by cartoonist Fernando Sendra, published in Clarín in August, ironised resolution 34/2020 by which both public and private companies must have a composition that respects gender diversity. The joke immediately received responses of repudiation and criticism of all kinds from different people and collectives.
2020 USA/ Bianca Xunise/ King Features / Various Media
Some of the newspapers where Bianca Xunise 's cartoon appeared communicated their decision to stop publishing the Six Chic series, some even planted an apology in the place where her next strip was to appear, calling it inappropriate and offensive, and they also asked for an apology from the agency that distributes the work.
2020 Brazil / Renato Aroeira
The Brazilian government threatened to prosecute cartoonist Renato Aroeira for a cartoon and also journalist Ricardo Noblat for sharing it on his blog in the magazine "Veja". The executive of the ultra-right-wing Jair Bolsonaro requested an investigation using a law from the dictatorship, art. 26 of the National Security Law, approved in 1983 in the time of Joao Figueiredo, Brazil's last dictator.
2020 USA/ Gary McCoy
On Thursday 11 June, the Morning News newspaper in Florence, South Carolina, published a cartoon by Gary McCoy on abortion and blacks that created controversy and led to the announcement of the disappearance of all editorial cartoons in the paper.
2020 USA/ Tom Stiglich
Johnny Whitefield, editor of The Courier-Times newspaper based in Roxboro, North Carolina, yesterday announced his immediate resignation following the publication of the syndicated cartoon of Tom Stiglich that was criticised as racist. The same image also prompted resignations at the Washington Missourian, a family newspaper in Missouri.
2020 USA / Al Goodwyn
The Journal newspaper in Seneca, South Carolina, published an apology for a cartoon by cartoonist Al Goodwyn, who claims to be a conservative, and announced that no more cartoons by this author would appear in its pages. Some readers sent their complaints to the newspaper or posted them on social media pointing out the message of the image as racist.
2020 India / S. Surendra Kumar, Varma
Indian cartoonist S. Surendra Kumar, who signs his name as Varma, was arrested on Monday 18 May for a cartoon posted on his Twitter account on Saturday 16 May and removed due to a copyright (?) claim.
2020 Sweden / Saudi Arabia - Mahmoud Abbas
Several European organisations condemned the insults and death threats against the Palestinian cartoonist Mahmoud Abbas, who lives in Sweden. The cartoonist began to receive insults that escalated into death threats after publishing a cartoon about the fall in the price of oil.
2020 Bolivia / Ángel Bellido "Abecor"
The Bolivian newspaper Página Siete requested in a letter to the Minister of Government, Arturo Murillo, protective measures for its cartoonist Abel Bellido, Abecor, who reported being harassed on the internet, the cartoonist received insults and death threats because of the set of his cartoons.
2020 Hungary / Gábor Pápai
The KDNP, the ruling Christian Democratic People's Party in Hungary, has announced legal action against the daily Népszava and its cartoonist Gábor Pápai for a cartoon published on 28 April as"blasphemy".
2020 Bangladesh / Ahmed Kabir Kishore
The Bangladesh Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore . Also arrested were writer Mushtaq Ahmed and two others, Didarul Islam Bhuiyan, an activist of a platform called "Rashtrachinta" and businessman Minhaz Mannan Emon, under the controversial Digital Security Act (DSA), which many claim is being used against freedom of expression.
2020 Peru / Carlos Tovar Samanez, Carlín
The cartoonist Carlos Tovar Samanez, Carlín, (Lima, 1955) denounced that he was receiving insults and serious threats after the publication of one of his cartoons in the newspaper La República, where he has worked since 2002.
2020 United Kingdom / Morning Star -Stella Perrett
The left-wing Morning Star newspaper removed a cartoon from its online edition and apologised for its publication, also in print. Some readers complained online that the joke dehumanised trans people, depicting them as predators.
2020 Belgium - China / De Standaard - Lectrr
The association of Chinese companies in Belgium and Luxembourg published a note in which it considers that the image of Lectrr, published on its website and on Twitter on 23 January, and also in the newspaper De Standaard, "insults China and seriously hurts the feelings of the Chinese people". They add that "the satire is inappropriate and offensive to us and others in various communities across the country".
2020 Portugal - Israel / Sabado Magazine - Vasco Gargalo
An Israel-based human rights organisation called Btsalmo has sent a letter to the editor of the Portuguese magazine Sabado. They demand the immediate dismissal of cartoonist Vasco Gargalo (1977) for a cartoon from 2019. In addition, they demand the removal of all copies of the image and a public apology.
2020 Denmark - China / Jyllands-Posten - Niels Bo Bojesen
An Israel-based human rights organisation called Btsalmo has sent a letter to the editor of the Portuguese magazine Sabado. They demand the immediate dismissal of cartoonist Vasco Gargalo (1977) for a cartoon from 2019. In addition, they demand the removal of all copies of the image and a public apology.
2020 Turkey /Kazim Güleçyüz and Ibrahim Özdabak
Kazim Güleçyüz, editor of the daily Yeni Asya, and his cartoonist, Ibrahim Özdabak, received suspended prison sentences of one year and eight months and one year and six months respectively on terrorism charges for their social media posts and cartoons at the end of January.
2020 Spain / Toni Galmés and editorial Comanegra
Several police unions denounced Galmés for libel for a work for a book, published in 2018, that he did for the publishing house Comanegra. The police unions demanded, among other things, the banning and destruction of the humorous book and a public apology from authors and publishers. In 2021, the second case was dropped and the legal proceedings were closed.
