The publication has been described as anti-racist,[6] sceptical,[7] secular, libertarian,[8] and within the tradition of left-wing radicalism,[9][10] publishing articles about the far-right (especially the French nationalist National Rally party),[11] religion (Catholicism, Islam and Judaism), politics and culture.

[12][13] Since its founding, Charlie Hebdo has been a vocal advocate for free expression and secularism, using satire to critique organized religion, political movements, and other centers of power.

After an early reader's letter accused them of being "dumb and nasty" ("bête et méchant"), the phrase became an official slogan for the magazine and made it into everyday language in France.

[17] (Hebdo is short for hebdomadaire – "weekly") In November 1970, the former French president Charles de Gaulle died in his home village of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, eight days after a disaster in a nightclub, the Club Cinq-Sept fire, which had caused the death of 146 people.

[22] In 1991, Gébé, Cabu, and others were reunited to work for La Grosse Bertha, a new weekly magazine resembling Charlie Hebdo, created in reaction to the First Gulf War and edited by singer and comedian Philippe Val.

On 26 April 1996, François Cavanna, Charb and Philippe Val filed 173,704 signatures, obtained in eight months, with the aim of banning the political party Front National, since it would have contravened the articles 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

[36] The cover, featuring a cartoon of Muhammad saying: "100 lashes of the whip if you don't die laughing" by Luz (Rénald Luzier), had circulated on social media for a couple of days.

The "Charia Hebdo" issue had been a response to recent news of the post-election introduction of sharia law in Libya and the victory of the Islamist party in Tunisia.

[37] It especially focuses on oppression of women under sharia, taking aim at domestic violence, mandatory veiling, burqas, restrictions on freedom, forced marriage, and stoning of those accused of adultery.

"Guest editor" Muhammad is portrayed as a good-humoured voice of reason, decrying the recent elections and calling for a separation between politics and religion, while stating that Islam is compatible with humour.

Mohammed Moussaoui, head of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, said his organisation deplores "the very mocking tone of the paper toward Islam and its prophet but reaffirms with force its total opposition to all acts and all forms of violence.

"[53][54] On 7 January 2015, two Islamist gunmen[55] forced their way into the Paris headquarters of Charlie Hebdo and opened fire, killing twelve: staff cartoonists Charb, Cabu, Honoré, Tignous and Wolinski,[56] economist Bernard Maris, editors Elsa Cayat and Mustapha Ourrad, guest Michel Renaud, maintenance worker Frédéric Boisseau and police officers Brinsolaro and Merabet, and wounding eleven, four of them seriously.

[81] The statement was used as the hashtag #jesuischarlie on Twitter,[82] as computer-printed or hand-made placards and stickers, and displayed on mobile phones at vigils, and on many websites, particularly media sites.

[83] A series of rallies took place in cities across France on 10–11 January 2015 to honour the victims of the Charlie Hebdo shooting, and also to voice support for freedom of speech.

[94]On 1 September 2020, Charlie Hebdo announced that it would republish caricatures depicting Muhammad that sparked violent protests, ahead of a trial of suspected perpetrators of the mass shooting in January 2015 scheduled the following day.

[108] The tensions were, in turn, caused by the beheading of schoolteacher Samuel Paty in France after he showed caricatures of Muhammad, which were published by Charlie Hebdo, to his students as part of a lesson on free speech.

[109] While he admitted to have not yet seen the cartoon, Erdoğan called the images "despicable", "insulting", and "disgusting", and accused Charlie Hebdo of "cultural racism" and sowing "the seeds of hatred and animosity".

[114] In October 2015, Nadine Morano was depicted as a baby with Down syndrome in the arms of General de Gaulle after making remarks supporting the National Front.

[a][115] The 14 September 2015 edition's cover cartoon by Coco depicted a migrant being maltreated by a man who proclaims "welcome to refugees" – in order to parody European claims about compassion.

Riss parodied anti-immigrant attitudes by featuring a cartoon with a caricature of Jesus walking on water next to a drowning Muslim boy, with the caption "this is how we know Europe is Christian".

[117] That issue also included a caricature of the dead body of Syrian Kurdish refugee child Alan Kurdi next to a McDonald's sign with the caption, "So close to the goal".

[120][121][122][123] Following the crash of Metrojet Flight 9268 in October 2015, which killed 224 civilians, mostly Russians, and was seen by UK and US authorities as a probable terrorist bombing, Charlie Hebdo published cartoons which were perceived in Russia as mocking the victims of the tragedy.

In one reference to the crash, which claimed 92 lives, including 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble choir,[125] the French magazine depicted a jet hurtling downwards along with words translated as "Bad news ... Putin wasn't on board".

[137] A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said: "If such, I dare say, 'artistry' is the real manifestation of 'Western values', then those who hold and support them are doomed,"[138] On 13 March 2021, Charlie Hebdo featured a controversial cartoon titled "Why I Left Buckingham Palace" on its front page.

[139] The illustration depicted Queen Elizabeth II kneeling on the neck of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, whose head was next to a quote bubble that read "Because I couldn't breathe".

It was published following Oprah Winfrey's interview of the Duchess and her partner, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, in which the couple accused the royal family of making racist hassles.

The cartoon drew backlash from many social media users, as it satirically paralleled the incidents within the royal family with the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

[146][147][148] In 2007 the Grand Mosque of Paris began criminal proceedings against the chief-editor of Charlie Hebdo, Philipe Val, under France's hate speech laws for publicly abusing a group on the ground of their religion.

[153] In October 2020, prosecutors in the judicial system of Turkey began legal investigations into a criminal complaint filed by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose lawyers argued that the cartoon depicting their client should be considered "libel" and was "not covered by freedom of expression".

[161] Granting the prize to Charlie Hebdo sparked vast controversy among writers,[162] and 175 prominent authors boycotted the event due to "cultural intolerance" of the magazine.