Media Censorship

Censorship has evolved over time in America, from TV, books, and even the internet. America has prohibited specific things from citizen’s beliefs. The role that censorship plays in America is taken from personal beliefs, such as voting for certain things to be banned from books, TV, internet, and articles. This allows and denies things that are used for public use, due to personal preferences on things that are appropriate and inappropriate for public users.

The history of the world has undoubtedly been dominated by an endless struggle for power. However, after a brief glimpse into the pages of history it should not take long to realize that the trick to maintaining power lies in the control of information. Even the most fearsome military generals of the past acknowledge the power of the mind and ideas over lethal force. Former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin once said “… [Ideas] are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, then why should we let them have ideas.” Stalin’s quote personifies the main concept of this literature review which will be discussing the history of government censorship and its effects that are

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.

Overall governments, organizations, and those in power often times use censorship in order to shelter or hide things from people. For example, when a parent is just doing what is best for their kid and doesn’t just let them do whatever they want. There is always a reason, often times thought to be protection. However it could potentially be more, perhaps manipulation? Whatever may be the reason censorship will remain a vastly used form of restriction that some may just need to learn to

Imagine a place where you have access to anything and everything one could want. Some would say that is only existent in a utopia, and some would say that describes the Internet. Many adults go on to the net and access pornographic material that would be unsuitable for children. This is called cyberporn. The controversy lies in the fact that children are accessing these materials also. Government, activist groups, and concerned parents are fighting to regulate obscene material found over the Internet to protect children. The first amendment is the only thing protecting adults from losing their rights to obtain pornographic or indecent material on the net. Under the first amendment the government must not regulate cyberporn. Online sex

Censorship in America is about the freedom of speech. And how people in America are limited the freedom of speech people who are Muslim can’t draw a picture of Muhammad. If Muhammad knew who drew his picture then the person would get executed. In America people are limited the freedom of speech. In schools people try to block out what other people are saying. Kids in schools are proble scared about what other people

Immediately after the overthrow of King Zahir Shah in 1973, Afghanistan began to experience a drastic increase of media restrictions under its next ruling powers. However, when the Taliban gained control in 1996, the Islamic State of Afghanistan began a period of regulation which can be considered the most restricted in the world. Censorship is the act of a government or powerful group filtering information, news, and media to fit approved topics and categories. Under censorship, the people now have to be cautious of what they write, say, or do because if it’s deemed "offensive" or “illegal”, they can be penalized. ("Definitions of Censorship") The Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist group, proved to be no different. Whether it was news,

Why is it that it takes gruesome violence for people to be entertained by television content? This kind of diversion could be having an effect on the minds of the children that are watching. Citizens of other countries are openly opposed the grisly material broadcast daily on American television. What average Americans can find enjoyment in viewing on television is extremely strange to members of foreign countries. Has it not become clear that constant blasting of savage images is taking effect on people, mainly Americans? Morality in American society is decreasing rapidly, and the best way to curb this social decline is to censor violent and sexual content on American broadcast television.

Music has a dangerously potent existential force. Individuals dissolve into melodies, beats and rhythms. According to Ban (Ned) In the U.S.A, “sound only exist when it is going out of existence” (Jones). This ability within music becomes threatened through censorship which infringes and hinders artistic expression. Radio stations use censorship to edit explicit music in hopes of preserving adolescent innocence, however; there in no value in radio censorship. The significance of radio censorship is diminished because editing music for radio play is ineffective in blocking the nature of a song, radio stations kill the authenticity of music, and songs lose their integrity.

The USSR liberalized in its last years, and the greater freedoms introduced were one major reason for the union’s dissolution in 1991.” This quote states that censorship is connected strongly to communism the opposite of our democracy our social system. This shows an extreme case of censorship, but still we need to learn from this event and make sure history doesn't repeat itself. Next, in the same article “Censorship & Democracy: An Overview By Michael Aliprandini Co-Author: Geraldine Wagner” it also says “Social issues have traditionally attracted censorship, as well.

Modern society faces many controversial issues that previous generations could not have possibly imagined. These issues seem to evolve with the culture and recur in new form as each generation moves on in time. For example, censorship is an issue that generations have struggled to resolve since the dawn of media and the publication of documents. Today, censorship is an important part of our world because of its ability to let parents block out or allow certain material to reach their children, its controversial stand on the freedom of press and freedom of speech rights of human beings, and its demonstration of who or what has the power at hand to control what enters the public media.

The administration also prohibits photojournalists from many events instead choosing to release their own images of events for the public to have (DeMersseman, 39-40). Iran maintains a database of blacklisted websites, including more than half of the most popular websites used by the majority of people around the world (Lee, n.p.). For Iranians attempting to connect to the Internet, there are some encrypted protocols that are difficult, if not impossible, for the people to connect to with the Iranian firewall throttling encrypted SSH protocol before cutting it off entirely after 60 seconds (Lee, n.p). Outside of the countries that are typically associated with censorship, Iran, China, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Russia, there are other states such as Ecuador, Turkey, Kenya, and Hungary that prevent critical and valuable information form being shared with the public and creating a state media control that subtly restricts the free sharing of information by journalists and the people (Bennett & Naim,

The book Censorship: Opposing Viewpoints edited by Andrea Nakaya explores opposing viewpoints and arguments made by different authors. It provides several arguments for and against my research paper. It helped me define what my opposing views are so I will know which arguments to present to make my point. The book has four chapters, contains 26 different articles and book excerpts in addition to the introduction and chapter prefaces which provides background material. The articles in each chapter are opinions of the individual authors, arguing for or against censorship of social, political and economic issues. Among these different chapters I chose the title above about government regulation because it is related to one of my sub topic in the research project paper. It supports my argument that “regulation” has become one of the most common tool used to restrict media freedom around the world.

Australia has a relatively unrestricted media industry, unlike Iran, who has a huge amount of government restriction. There have been laws passed in Australia, such as the restriction of media coverage in detention centres and the storage of mega data, which places restriction and surveillance on the media output ( . This, along with the general guidelines for television and other media, does not limit the knowledge of the Australian population in any substantial way. This is not true for Iran as it has some of the strongest censorship laws in the world. Along with censorship online and offline, self-censorship of journalists occurs due to harassment and punishment under the vague offences the government has outlined.

The parameters of the term censorship have been changed and manipulated very much over the years. Television and movie ratings have become more lenient against violence and indiscretion because these things are now seen as entertainment. Is this appropriate for our youth? Should children be exposed to these images so early on? How does censorship in the media affect adolescents? Children are the future of our society and need to have some understanding of real world occurrences. Ultimately, censorship can only be determined by the parents. The media cannot filter every bit of controversial images. What rights does the media have in this situation? How are their First Amendment rights applied here? As an aspiring political science