Everyone should be granted right to voice their opinion without restraint; their freedom of speech. Charlie Hebdo is a satirical magazine that features cartoons, reports, and jokes. And they have every right to voice their opinion. Protests began shortly after the Charlie Hebdo attacks in France from January 7 to January 9. The first attacks resulted in twelve people being killed, including artist of the magazine. The next day a French policewoman was shot down. And on the third day, four hostages were killed in a bakery. The attacks against the Charlie Hebdo magazine were against their works that were clear representation of their freedom of speech.

Although the magazine could be seen as offensive to certain groups because of their use of religious satire and highly controversial covers, the magazine was a great creation from these journalists. They did not specifically pinpoint any specific race or religion and have even taken jabs at Americans more than once. The magazine has even taken on topics from Sept. 11 to the Pope. Where I do not believe disrespecting someone’s beliefs is okay, the magazine managed to execute the magazine in a somewhat tasteful way- as tasteful as most political cartoons can get. They did everything any other political magazine or cartoon would do about these topics. But some thought it was too far, and took action into their own hands.

The attacks have sparked protests all around the globe, but especially in France.

Different platforms have been covering the events, but by far the most interesting and personal coverage of the protest was on Snapchat, which stands as quite a shock.. And with that, snapchat created a story playlist of French citizens saying proudly, “Je suis Charlie,” which translates to “I am Charlie”. This show of support for the eight journalists of the Charlie Hebdo Magazine, who were killed for sharing with us their voices, is extraordinary. These artists had a right to their opinion, and these protests, even as small as the ones on snapchat, show support for these men who lost their lives.