It used to take a little bit of time to organize a decent protest, like, maybe a few days to a week, at least. To print and pass out flyers, get the stuff for signs and make them, get phone networks going to get the word out that there's going to be a protest .... so you also had time to go to the city and fill out a form, and maybe pay a fee (depending on the size of the protest, if you're just a little grassroots thing, they'll just want to know when and tell you not to block anything). It's mostly a CYA thing for both sides.
Nowadays? I guess permits are kind of old fashioned, what with cell phones able to assemble flash mobs in minutes.
Protests don't always necessarily need to involve civil disobedience.
The truckers are involved in civil disobedience (assuming the organizers didn't get permits, and I have no idea, maybe they do.) Protesters get permits. Rioters cause damage. Demonstrations are the kind of protests that focus on education and awareness as much as it is "we don't like this". It's kind of splitting hairs, but sometimes, I think it's kind of important to split hairs.
It used to take a little bit of time to organize a decent protest, like, maybe a few days to a week, at least. To print and pass out flyers, get the stuff for signs and make them, get phone networks going to get the word out that there's going to be a protest .... so you also had time to go to the city and fill out a form, and maybe pay a fee (depending on the size of the protest, if you're just a little grassroots thing, they'll just want to know when and tell you not to block anything). It's mostly a CYA thing for both sides.
Nowadays? I guess permits are kind of old fashioned, what with cell phones able to assemble flash mobs in minutes.
You shouldn't have to request permission from the government to organize a protest.
Protests don't always necessarily need to involve civil disobedience.
The truckers are involved in civil disobedience (assuming the organizers didn't get permits, and I have no idea, maybe they do.) Protesters get permits. Rioters cause damage. Demonstrations are the kind of protests that focus on education and awareness as much as it is "we don't like this". It's kind of splitting hairs, but sometimes, I think it's kind of important to split hairs.