Culture Minister David Lammy will this evening say Islamic extremists should be invited to air their views in the British press.
Mr Lammy, delivering the Polis Lecture on Media and Diversity in London tonight will say Islamic extremists should be given "the oxygen of publicity" in order to show their "poisonous" views up for what they are.
"People ask, is it right for the BBC or al Jazeera to interview groups who spread mistrust and division through a twisted reading of Islam? To give them what used to be called the oxygen of publicity? The answer is 'yes, it is'," saysthe minister.
"Freedom of expression means showing up the extremists for what they are. They usually don't speak for anyone other than themselves, and their poisonous voices are best silenced by rational and reasoned argument."
Mr Lammy says that the media need to open up debate but that there is a line between freedom of speech and being offensive for the sake of it.
He said the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten's publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed was "deliberately designed to cause offence."
Meanwhile, Mr Lammy praises the British for acting "with intelligence and sensitivity".
But that "intelligence and sensitivity" was thrown in to stark relief earlier today when it emerged The Daily Star planned to print a page called the "Daily Fatwa" in this morning's edition.
The page, billed as "How your favourite paper would look under Muslim law", Featured a "burqa babes special" showing a woman in a niqab and was only pulled late last night when following a newsroom revolt that condemned the page.
Is David Lammy right? And can the media be trusted to run an " intelligent and senstive" debate?
