While it has attracted little media attention, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has quietly changed its policy on the posting of ads deemed controversial after the outcry over an ad campaign by American Freedom Defense Initiative executive director and blogger Pamela Geller. Muslims and others objected to the ads and at least one columnist was arrested for destroying the posters. The ads read “In any war between civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.” Now MTA has announced that it will reserve the right to refuse any ads deemed likely to “incite” violence or “other breach of peace.” It is another measure rolling on free speech and forcing speakers to adhere to the anticipated reaction of third parties.
The new regulation states “The licensee (‘advertising contractor’) shall not display or maintain any advertisement that falls within one or more of the following categories.” This includes the following category:
The advertisement, or any information contained in it, is directly adverse to the commercial or administrative interests of the MTA or is harmful to the morale of MTA employees or contains material the display of which the MTA reasonably foresees would incite or provoke violence or other immediate breach of the peace, and so harm, disrupt, or interfere with safe, efficient, and orderly transit operations.
So speakers will now be denied if any group is likely to react as did columnist Mona Eltahawy by destroying posters. It rewards the lawless conduct of such individuals and forces speech to meet the demands of the lowest common denominator of expression. It also leaves ample opportunity for selection denials of some speech in favor of others. Under this standard, any poster discussing subjects ranging from religion to homosexuality to environmentalism could be considered disruptive. The agency will no doubt demand deference in such agency decisions and it will be hard to contest the mere prediction of possible violence or disruptions. It will be interesting to see the MTA cite violent riots in other countries as the basis for such action.
We have been following the rise of anti-blasphemy laws around the world, including the increase in prosecutions in the West and the support of the Obama Administration for the prosecution of some anti-religious speech under the controversial Brandenburg standard. Now that effort has come to a head with the new President of Egypt President Mohamed Mursi calling for enactment of an anti-blasphemy law at the United Nations. Mursi is also demanding legal action against the filmmaker by the United States despite the fact that the film is clearly protected by the first amendment.
The MTA’s regulation is a prime example of how the West is yielding to the demands to silence different forms of speech under the guise of tolerance and good public order. The vote was 8-0 to adopt the new rules in the wake of the recent controversy. Joseph J. Lhota, the authority’s chairman simply insisted that “We’ve gotten to a point where we needed to take action today.” That point appears to have been reached when people objected that they found the views in the ads to be offensive. Few forms of political or social advocacy do not offend someone. Indeed, many commercial ads are viewed as offensive by some, even the cartoonish image on a Starbucks cup. Will those who call the image the “Starslut” now succeeded in forcing the withdrawal of Starbucks ads or will the MTA pick and choose between who is legitimately incited or offended?
Source: New York Times
SwM,
Thinking of the descending melancholy here, which effects even young Swedes, I would consider it too.
Just to get some sun. We had a week in the beginning of September and it has been rain and overcast since then.
How is the rain there. They say the North Sea dumps on it all the time. And are they so cheery, perhaps in Ireland. The northerners appear to be dour, like my ancestors from there. The black Irish, whatever they were. OS would know, Celt as he is.
idealist, If i did not have children here, I would move to Ireland.
Carrie-Anne Moss needs to rescue Val Kilmer.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0199753/
For SF fanciers see John Varley. His “Press Enter” and the “Persistence of Vision” are respectively just around the corner future and a different post-apocalyptic world, with no sound and no sight.
Oh yes, we have no muzak anywhere. Not anywhere. Who would notice. All under 35 are wearing earplugs.
Matrix anyone.
SwM,
Thank goodness you are right. We have the original, now 5 channel, no ads TV. And numerous ad-bulging ones.
I’ve tuned out on them all and become a nettian.
I can ride the underground, ride the buses, walk the streets without being visuallly or audibly assaulted.
No environments are full of intrusions on your integrity, not even in shopping centers. Quiet reigns everywhere. Swedes would go berserk otherwise. All it would take otherwise is a bit of red fly mushroom.
Apparently your world has become a he!!.
rcampbell,
You are spot on about Atkins and his ilk. The only freedoms they want to protect is their own freedom to keep sticking it to women and minorities.
“The book was called “Stand on Zanzibar”. As do you, I take offense at this total commercialization of our world and can only wonder how much worse it can get as years go by.” Mike S
———————————————–
I’ll check that out. Another is ‘The End of the Dream’ by Philip Wylie…A portential coda that is unfortunately panning out. In one chapter, a guy sits on his porch, lights up a cigar and explodes….turns out the food his housekeeper was feeding him was pushed via backchannels and uber-advertising and marketing to his table….and the additives caused an internal methane mixture that was highly flammable…..! BOOM!
Very little of that type of commercialization in Ireland and many other EU countries. ….Mike, Woosty
Let’s just hope Brunner was wrong about some of his other prognostications, Mike.
Gene,
Brunner has been sadly prescient about far too much already.
idealist707 1, October 2, 2012 at 4:00 pm
Matt J.,
“The ship was in drydock. Engineering space didn’t get refurbished because we were being punished. Somebody stole the Captain’s coffee cup.”
====================================
Did the Captain forget that he left his balls in it?
=======================================
There were some chips on the cup. Other than that, it was in good shape.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LA-S64QY3o&feature=player_embedded#!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LA-S64QY3o&w=560&h=315%5D
RCampbell,
Did you notice that the nut frequency is rising now?
Matt J.,
“The ship was in drydock. Engineering space didn’t get refurbished because we were being punished. Somebody stole the Captain’s coffee cup.”
====================================
Did the Captain forget that he left his balls in it?
I saw a quote today from the now infamous Mo. Cong. Akins. Now he says that, in the name of freedom, employers should be allowed to discriminate against women and minorities if they choose because he, like many conservatives see no limits on what THEY call freedom. They don’t seem to understand or accept the concept of the United States as a community, a country, a place where people share common values. Very un-American people.
Political correctness is nothing more than adhering to the simple principle of politeness your mother taught you (tried to?). Who’s mother told them it was okay to call people whatever names they wanted to call others? Which mothers told their kids that other people’s feelings are of no concern? It would seem that a couple of posters here today weren’t listening to Mom.
idealist707 1, October 2, 2012 at 3:17 pm
Malisha,
Did work that way in our school. Our graduating class did not get to make the traditional trip to Washington, DC, because the prior class had misbehaved. Now that is punishing the innocent to achieve a warning effect.
===========================================================
The ship was in drydock. Engineering space didn’t get refurbished because we were being punished. Somebody stole the Captain’s coffee cup.
Woosty,
Great speech, if I may call it that.
You are welcome to my speech quota anytime.
So nice to see somebody is awake, like you are.
Malisha,
Did work that way in our school. Our graduating class did not get to make the traditional trip to Washington, DC, because the prior class had misbehaved. Now that is punishing the innocent to achieve a warning effect.
Ralph Adamo,
Great list. Only they were not products of civilization but of cultures, and in many cases they were counter-culture.
Don’t confuse civiization with culture. Civilization comes from civitas (?), meaning city.
The first ones being about 8,000 years old.
A city carrys with it certain requirements. Those requirements have been passed down through the millenia.
They have been ameiliorated by development both societal and techical. But there point has been to reap the fruits of concentrating labor which can be freed from agriculture and made available for other purposes.
Go on if you are interested.
It is another measure rolling on free speech and forcing speakers to adhere to the anticipated reaction of third parties.
————————————————
Nancy Parris
1, October 2, 2012 at 10:38 am
The real victory tht Osama bin Laden and his co-horts have won is the hate that has been exposed. While I don’t agree with much that’s out there, I still believe we have the right to freedom of speech.
————————————————-
I would prefer, that when I ride a bus or other packed like sardines, poorly ventilated, no exits in transit, metal box with little feet room and fares that piss every one off….that the transit authority have the prudence, common sense, and yes, sensitivity, to NOT post something that is likely to piss off the potentially already angry and stretched fellow passenger that has little say in anything …especially authoritarian level conversations….and who may be looking for a show to start up. I don’t think this is as much a Freedom of Speech issue as a let’s be careful not to endanger innocent parties issue. There isn’t a square inch of space in ANY venue these days that isn’t taken up by self serving and $$$$ sucking advertisements. I can’t watch TV anymore because the ads actually nauseate me (physically). It’s like the Waco torture where they pumped creepy music into the house all day to try to get the people to come out. The only Freedom of Speech that is being abridgd is that of the commuter who is assaulted with these ads and noxious crap 24/7 aurally, orally, decibelly, tangibelly and unmanageably. Where is the Freedom to not be submerged in the market drecht whenever I’m in a public place?
To Nancy Parris….I don’t believe that was his victory….Osama bin Whoever or What brought our attention to the still putrid swamps of Hate, Racism and Socio-Economic Inequality, is not the enemy….it is the Hate, Racism, and Inequalities that have been submerged from the public consciousness and efforts to eradicate them from our systems but are still there at such levels as to have made us as a Nation vulnerable, manipulated, targets. We have turned deaf ears to the rest of the world for decades….that attack should not have surprised. (I am not saying it should have happened, just that humans do act that way…) . Sadly we have chosen to honor the attacker by retaliating in the same fashion…..by killing, torturing, poisoning and deconstructing. That can change any time.
“There isn’t a square inch of space in ANY venue these days that isn’t taken up by self serving and $$$$ sucking advertisements. I can’t watch TV anymore because the ads actually nauseate me (physically). It’s like the Waco torture where they pumped creepy music into the house all day to try to get the people to come out. The only Freedom of Speech that is being abridged is that of the commuter who is assaulted with these ads and noxious crap 24/7 aurally”
Woosty,
That and the rest of the comment its’ quoted from, represents to me a righteous rant, that expresses many of the feelings I have. It has also changed helped change my mind about the appropriateness of the MTA’s actions. We are being assaulted daily by someone trying to sell us something, whether commercially or politically. It’s like TV now where advertisements for future shows run animated along the bottom of your screen, taking your attention away from the program. It is also the cross marketing of products in movies. Years ago a great SF writer John Brunner described a society where as you walked down the street you would be assaulted by hologram ads that had been personally geared to you and your needs. The book was called “Stand on Zanzibar”. As do you, I take offense at this total commercialization of our world and can only wonder how much worse it can get as years go by.
OK, I can see the analog in a kindergarten classroom.
Teacher is called over to the art table because Jimmy didn’t like the picture that Ronnie made, so he painted over it. Teacher says, “Well we have to be fair about this. So if Ronnie can’t make pictures without there being problems, then NOBODY CAN,” and she shuts down the art table.
Does that work?
No?
But it does sound a lot like court, doesn’t it?