governments don’t own our human rights

Although all people are free to speak, not all people can speak without fear of government regulation.

In countries across the globe, citizens are discriminated against, harassed, jailed, or even killed for speaking their minds. In the United States, the government cannot restrict us from insulting a political leader, publishing an op-ed about an unfavorable issue, assembling peacefully for a cause, or even running on a ballot as a socialist. But in many other parts of the world, something as simple as forming a student organization, handing out pamphlets, or keeping a blog is enough to make you a target for censorship or even a candidate for criminal persecution.

As we speak, thousands of people from all walks of life sit in jail cells simply because they spoke up for something they believed in, something the government wanted to control, to keep hush-hush.

As a twenty-year-old college student, it amazes me that the papers I write for my classes, the comments people make in debates, the tweets on fake Twitter accounts, and the front pages of many local Bloomington publications could be enough to send someone to prison for the next ten years.

It upsets me to know also that people seem to take less interest in protecting freedom of speech than they do other human rights. All human rights are important, and all deserve to be protected.

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