Censorship Vs. Prior Restraint

According to the First Amendment law from United States Constitution, a prior restraint is classified as a federal action which forbids speech or other mediums of communication and expression prior to publication. Under the First Amendment, American citizens and the press are granted the liberty of free speech. However, under certain terms the officials will sanction this blockage. For over 70 years, corporations and public figures have often wished they could stop media and broadcast stations from publishing sensitive information, their ability to censor or take action against them is very limited. The U.S Supreme Court considers this suppressive tactic as “the most serious and the least tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights”. Scholars

Although we, as citizens of this country, are guaranteed freedom of speech and press by the first amendment, we are encouraged to “watch what we say”. In order to avoid unnecessary violence and to keep people from being offended, it is recommended the certain things be censored. While many may look at this censorship as a well-needed percussion it can reversely be seen as going against one's first amendment rights, in itself causing controversy.

     Since this country was founded, we have had a set of unalienable rights that our constitution guarantees us to as Americans. One of the most important rights that is mentioned in our constitution is the right to free speech. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the

Censorship is defined by Caso as the suppression of speech or any other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive politically incorrect as determined by the government or any other control body (3). Censorship may be justified from the conservative view whereby the free speech can be maltreated where it undermines the customary principles and communal solidity as withheld by a particular community.

Censorship is a concept with several different meanings. To each individual censorship has its own meaning. Is it a violation of our rights or is it a protection for our well being? Censorship in the generic sense refers to the suppression of information, ideas, or opinions. It occurs in all forms of communication from technological media to print media. Each society, culture, or individual's belief is violated by the codes of censorship that our society instills.

Censorship has been adopted in many societies as well as the governments of our world. As the history of the world expands we see many countries try to censor what their citizens see. When the countries do this they are not assisting the country, they are leading it into a self-destruction. A good example of this would be America in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. This nation is destroyed in a futuristic war that only lasts a couple of minutes, if not seconds. Other fitting examples include the Nazi regime and the Soviet Union, both governments censoring their population in what they could read, write, and see. As we know both of these governments did not succeed and ultimately were obliterated and the countries were punished. Government censorship not only wounds the ability for people to grow and expand in their thought process, but it eventually causes the ultimate self-destruction of the nation.

Therefore prior censorship poses real dangers to freedom of expression because if authorities are able to suppress future publications, it becomes impossible to verify the justification of such actions. This will undoubtedly lead to abuse of power to prevent government criticism. Some governments allow an appeal process that puts the government in control as court processes by their nature are expensive and slow thus giving control to the authorities for the timing of the flow of information. This creates another problem as news like any other product or service is a perishable commodity, “so that success in court after lengthy proceedings will often prove a pyrrhic victory” . In some jurisdictions, like the USA, prior censorship is prohibited save for the protection of minors, that is, Article 13 (1) and (2) of the ACHR states:

Censorship dates all the way back to 443 BC in ancient Rome with the Office of Censor. In that time this was an office of great repute, the Office of Censor was charged with the shaping of the character of the people. Thus it was considered to be an honorable task, since then the connotation of the word and such an office has changed greatly. Today censorship is the practice of officially examining books, movies, etc. and suppressing “unacceptable parts” based on whoever is defining “unacceptable.” Unacceptable has been considered to be a wide range of concepts from ideas to sexually explicit content. Historically in the USSR most leaders used censorship in every form as a means of suppressing whatever or whoever was perceived as a

Censorship is the practice of officially examining books, movies, etc., and suppressing unacceptable parts, censorship is the overt infringement on our first amendment right to freedom of speech and freedom of expression, and should only be used if the thing being showed is a threat . In the article “Censorship & Democracy: An Overview By Michael Aliprandini Co-Author: Geraldine Wagner” says “ Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature, was the subject of criminal proceedings for having insulted Turkish identity in an interview. Though he was eventually acquitted, numerous other writers around the world still face prosecution for invoking their freedom of speech and expression.” This line shows an instance of the the Turkish government charging a man for insulting them or speaking his mind against

Today, censorship is in place in more ways than you can imagine. As mentioned previously, movies, music, television, and more are filtered one way or another. Some people go to such lengths as illegal means of spreading materials deemed inappropriate for a certain viewing audience.

What is censorship exactly? Censorship is suppression of words, images, and ideas that can be offensive in nature to society (“What is Censorship?). Censorship doesn’t focus on media outlets, but it can be applied to a wide selection of topics. These include speech, art, books, films, plays, photography, television programs, radio programs, internet sources, and media outlets (“Defining Censorship”). How are these censored you might ask? It’s not only the government who censors topics, but it can be from different sources. The federal, local, and state governments, churches, private groups, speakers, writers, artists, and quite frankly anyone has the ability to censor what they want (“Defining Censorship”). Why would these sources want

Censorship blocks out negative things to keep people in a positive mindset, but too much censorship can take away people’s freedom.

The censorship is the idea of government that they believed people cannot understand what the reality of life around them is. They assume they know what the best way is for people that they thinking and choosing for them without any new idea from people. These ideas give the government strong reason to control speech, internet and news with the power they have. They tell their people this method can saves children, adult and even country. Censoring maybe protect children or adult from some harsh Media that show violence and bad language but the same time it is against freedom of speech personal choice and how to choice and find their own way in their own life humanity right for many reasons such as controlling person's mind, controlling people choice and how to choose and find their own way in their life find and stop been creative.

In modern society, the issue of free speech vs. censorship often comes up. It is a hot topic among those interested in social issues, and represents two well meaning but very different arguments. The argument for freedom of speech says that communication and connectivity promotes progress, while the argument for censorship says that silence and isolation promotes security.

The Constitution guarantees us the right to Freedom of Speech. Nowhere in the First Amendment does it state that we have the right to freedom of speech as long as everyone agrees with us and likes what we say. Quite the contrary, it states that “Congress shall pass no laws abridging our right to freedom of speech.” Censorship does exactly that, severs away our right to freedom of speech. Censorship is Government telling us what we are to approve of and disapprove of. It is Government abridging our right to freedom of speech.