Freedom of speech

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Freedom of Speech
The right to express yourself is one of the precious freedoms that when used meaningfully can be advantageous to our social development. The same power, however, can be the downfall of humanity, when we use it to further divisions against us. Pamella Geller who happens to be an anti-Muslim uses her freedom of speech, but in a way that is seen to fuel animosity between the Muslim and non-Muslim. She advocates for placement of ads in public transport systems, and this leads to several court cases.
Geller’s actions lead to several court battles in the article. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) claims to have tried preventing her from putting up ads against Israel’s enemies which according to MTA contravene their “no demeaning” language policy (Abdelkader 1). The court in this situation ruled to the favor of Geller. The board of New York city’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority also had their case dismissed by the court for rejecting provocative advertisement from Geller appearing in their transport system (Abdelkader 2). A legal dispute is seen when Geller takes on other cities for keeping off her publications from the public transport systems (Abdelkader 3). Most of the time the judges site protected speech covered in the First Amendment of the US Constitution including the American Freedom Defense initiative similar cases. Generally, MTA will always present their arguments to in seemingly endless court cases, but it would still be the same story as the judges would decline their request.

In my opinion, I feel that the socially inclined advertisements shouldn’t be allowed in public transits. The society is made up of people of different believes and cultures, and therefore, such adverts would divide our country along religious lines which is not good for our peace and coexistence.

Work Cited
Abdelkader, Engy. “Savagery in the Subways: Anti-Muslim Ads, the First Amendment, and the Efficacy of Counterspeech.” Asian Am. LJ 21 (2014): 43.