Professor Kamiński took a slightly different approach to Professor Śpiewak in his answer. He stated that one of the greatest problems with social media is that ignorant people, who would previously not have been heard, now have a platform where their opinions can be considered equal. The traditional approach towards people when they express controversial or dangerous statements, he said, would be to invite discussion with them and not to shut them down. However, we are now facing many debates regarding freedom of speech and censorship. Professor Kamiński questioned if censorship and exclusion of such statements goes against freedom of speech, but admitted there was no obvious answer.
Are we able to prevent atrocities from happening at all? Will common sense and reason save the world?
Professor Kamiński answered this question from the perspective of the law. He said that most people would agree that law serves “to make and create justice”, yet international law seems to be more about finding peace. Peace means that justice is often dismissed, and because of this, many perpetrators of huge crimes have simply gone unpunished. Justice, argued Kamiński, should always prevail so that these types of events do not happen again.
Father Desbois talked about the role of neighbours (rather than bystanders) and the fact that they seem to care only about themselves: “If something doesn’t affect their street, their family or neighbourhood, they’re sad but that’s it.” Because of channels like social media, said Desbois, “we are all neighbours”. We know what is happening in the world but do nothing about it. He also stated that people are fascinated by death as long as it does not involve them, and gave the examples of people watching the Twin Towers collapse or, more locally, rubbernecking to look at car crashes.
Professor Śpiewak drew attention to the fact that Europe has only just started coming to terms with the genocides of Africans and Indians under colonialism. The continent is “not innocent but conscious of its guilt, which is very important.” He added that we are still searching for the best preventative measures, whether that be through international criminal tribunals or other means. Finally, Śpiewak reiterated the dangers of indifference. He stressed that we should not “enshrine ourselves in our guilt,” but must be mindful of our feelings and sensitivities towards others.
Questions and comments from the audience were on the topics of the right to the truth via the law and the current threats present in the modern world.