Essay on Pros and Cons of Censorship: Controlling Media and Ideas

Most who argue against censorship believe that it goes against a person’s right to freedom of speech. Within this argument, most people wonder “just when, and on what grounds, the state is justified in using its coercive powers to limit the freedom of individuals” (West). When thinking in this mindset, individuals tend to antagonize the government, because they come to believe that it suppresses their individuality and fail to consider the fact that it unites people who share its similar beliefs. As a result of the recent spike in technology and use of the Internet, the public must continually alter its definition of freedom of speech and expression. As the media offers more and more methods of communication, many of which are relatively self-regulated by users, more methods of expression develop, which may render other forms of expression obsolete, or even socially unacceptable (Qazi). Without understanding how much freedom of speech one is entitled to, one may never hope to defend that freedom if it ever comes under attack. Because technology develops so quickly that one definition will hardly suffice for a short period of time, people will find it increasingly difficult to understand how much right to expression they are allowed and will therefore fight for any and all that they may attain, never considering the benefits of censorship in the slightest. In America especially, people idealize the idea of democracy, the investigation of truth, and independence (Fieser). In

     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.

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

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

John Pilger said ‘’ the censorship is such on television in the u.s that films like mine don’t stand a chance’’. Censorship in the news helps, but leaves out details that are important. News articles can relate being blacked out on certain words and important facts.’’ the goal of socialism is communism’’ { Lenin} Censorship in phones is one problem because the government can listen to our phone calls and see our text messages. One, people don’t want anyone but the person they're talking listen to their calls or reading their texts. Censorship in games is about parents not wanting children to play games with violence because they think it can corrupt their minds and they might act it out in real life. Video games are bad for you just like rock n roll [Miyamoto]Censorship in internet is about the government trying to hide things from kids.When the government did that ,they mess up important charity sites and bank sites. Censorship helps us by keeping us safe censorship can stop war from happening. Kids can not be show dirty pic and videos with censorship. Censorship can let government get your name and information.In conclusion, censorship is unnecessary because it hides the truth from parents and

Censorship occurs when information is forbidden; for example, in books, movies, newspapers, and the Internet. Books are banned when they contain objectionable language, sexual content, political content, and in the case of government censorship, knowledge. Some people argue that censorship is necessary to protect children from explicit language or sex scenes, and to preserve morals or religious values. Those against censorship argue that historical facts shouldn’t be censored, so that people can learn from history. Opponents also claim that censorship invalidates their intellectual freedom; which the United Nations proclaimed as a fundamental human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Finally, censorship decreases the quality

Censorship has been a touchy topic over the past few years. Everyone has their own opinion on the topic, but the fact is censorship is way more damaging than people may notice. First off, the definition of censorship is to restrain, block, and censor ideas and information that some may find offensive. The basic definition of censorship completely violates the First Amendment. We, as Americans, have the right to Freedom of Speech. Censorship blocks that by blocking anything some may find offensive. It’s not fair because they’re blocking out how people feel/think just because someone found it “offensive” or wrong. It completely contradicts the First Amendment. People have the right to know about the world and what’s happening. Keeping the

The subject of censorship is a very controversial one, especially the banning of books. Many people believe they must protect themselves and others from the "evils" of many classic books and works of art because they can be deemed "indecent" in one way or another. Many believe that this is absurd and censorship in its current form is a violation of our First Amendment right to free speech. Personally, I align myself with the latter, however I do feel there are occasions where censorship is justifiable.

Censorship in the common world, is like racism, there is a little grey area. To pass however, there will be no more mention of this grey area; just the words “No censorship”. Source C, D, and F fit into my mindset. As humans, censorship is harmful to our society.

Censorship may be protection from inappropriate materials, but it also limits free speech. For the limitation of free speech, it is reasonable why people are emphatically against censorship. It is understood that there is a need to filter some of the materials released in today’s society, but too much is being done by people who have no right meddling with everyone’s rights. Civilization has always been plagued by a never ending battle being fought over what is deemed right and wrong. In today’s culture, censorship oppresses everything in the media. From movies and music to television and even news stories, most of the content viewed today has been filtered one way or another. Restrictions have been in place since early societies have been

Censorship takes many forms in our society today. First it takes the form of political correctness. The purpose

Another very good example of a good use of censorship is a parent raising his/her children. Children who are raised with parents who only speak of abhorrence and hate, will eventually become young people who only tolerate abhorrence and hate. The guardians of children need pay attention to the world around their children thus committing the act of censorship.