Italian press quotes Rowan Atkinson on political correctness and the Middle Ages

Today the Italian press is chewing over Rowan Atkinson's remark that he is "tired of political correctness, it is like living in the Middle Ages". The Italians are quoting an interview given in honour of the actor's 66th birthday, in which he spoke, among other things, of his weariness with the character of Mr Bean, created when he was a postgraduate student of engineering science at Oxford and which, within 15 years, had become very nearly a national English symbol. Atkinson also lamented the departure of humour from British television and the dominion of algorithms on the internet, which simplify how we perceive and see the world. The most important words concern the lynching of people who hold unfashionable views. It was this that he compared to the Middle Ages, when crowds roam the streets in search of someone to burn: "if you are against, you will be made to keep silent". In short, the actor speaks out against the idea that one may not express opinions capable of offending somebody, regarding this as a violation of the fundamental notions of our freedom.