The IFPS Logo: Sappho

THE INTERNATIONAL FREE PRESS SOCIETY LOGO:

SAPPHO

Sappho – the Greek poetess from the sixth century B.C. – is depicted in our logo. Plato characterised her as the tenth muse, and our parent organization, the Danish Free Press Society, has adopted her as the Muse of Free Speech.

WHY THE FREE PRESS SOCIETY?

The IFPS parent organization is the Danish Free Press Society.  They took  their name from the Society that was established in 1835 when the adherents of free speech feared encroachment by the State. The old Society was dissolved in 1849 in recognition of Denmark’s first democratic constitution that guaranteed the freedom of expression. Today, however, free speech is again being threatened, primarily by religious and ideological interests and international pressure groups. For this reason they have found is necessary to re-establish the Society.

A number of spectacular and alarming violations of free speech that have taken place in Denmark and other European countries leave no doubt that the Western world is subjected to deliberate attempts to suppress the freedom of expression.