ABSTRACT
Iconoclasm is far from dead. On 15 October 2011, representatives of the socalled Black Bloc went amuck during a political demonstration in Rome. They broke into the church of SS. Marcellino and Pietro and smashed a crucifix and a statue of the Virgin Mary. At about the same time fervent Islamists were demonstrating in Tunisia against the showing of Marjane Satrapi’s film Persepolis. Based on the author’s graphic novel of the same name, the film showed God as an old, bearded man. As is well known, any pictorial representation of God is blasphemy according to Islam. Of the two events, the second one is perhaps the more interesting because it shows a new form of iconoclasm, directed at virtual images. Not only can these be spread rapidly through the internet, but they are also practically impossible to destroy. Censorship is feasible only through banning access, or attempting to ban access, to the offending images.
