The Censorship Debate

It is probably no accident that freedom of speech is the first freedom mentioned in the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." The Constitution's framers believed that freedom of inquiry and liberty of expression were the hallmarks of a democratic society.

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 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

Imagine a scenario where Kanye West is in his Los Angeles home with his wife and daughter and the police knock on his door. They arrest him based on exposing the American population to vulgarity, indecency, racist and sexist comments that offend many people. The government does not want America to be subjected to this type of music and turn the American culture into something more bigoted than it already is. However, a situation like this would never occur in the present day American society. That does not mean it could not happen in the future. Many American citizens are promoting censorship to an extreme that it could possibly become a reality. The American citizens claim that censorship is needed to shelter America’s citizens, but

Once slavery had been abolished the tension between people who were white and people who were black never really seemed to vanish. But as I started to watch the news I never realized how much hatred and cruelty there was between people who are pale and others who have much darker skin. This problem continued to grow and with the borders of censorship weakened then I realized that this issue needs to be taken care of. Growing up in a city that does not have to deal with a large issue like this makes it difficult to have an opinion on the subject in the beginning. When I was first introduced to racism as a subject I never realized how much harm it caused people today but now that I have been enlightened racism is something that I am against.

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.

Censorship is definitely a thing in a lot of parts of America; however, it’s not all bad censorship. For example, anti-abortion groups protest at public and private colleges using large, noticeable, graphic signs which most either ignore or attempt to take them down by force, which, although it sounds like illegal censorship, is legal because the 1st amendment does not protect provocative speech. In the video, a private college was shown which limited certain groups’ flyers and posters to one corner of the whole campus; they are completely within their rights to do that because they do not receive state funding so the first amendment does not apply to them. Finally, when Charlie Hebdo was attacked, a writer held a “Draw Muhammed” contest in Dallas which led to a shooting and her disappearance. Many people believe the things they do can not be censored because they are protected by the first amendment, but they are not because they are either provoking, the place they are at is not state funded, and people they are intentionally offending are not going to leave them alone.

In her essay, “Censorship: A Personal View” Judy Blume gives readers insight on the impact of censorship based on her personal experiences as a young reader and then later in life as a censored writer. She provides numerous examples of educators who were affected by censorship and chose to take a stand against it (345). Although the piece lacks evidentiary support for these accounts, and draws on sarcasm for emphasis, the original objective remains clear and strong. Blume succeeds in exposing what censorship is capable of, what this means for readers and writers, and how activist groups like the National Coalition Against Censorship [NCAC] can

Have you ever heard the word, censorship? If not, this is what it means. Censorship is the practice of officially examining books, movies, etc., and suppressing unacceptable parts. That is what people are trying to do to videos of stunts on YouTube, and they shouldn’t.

The N-word is unique to the point that it is part of people’s daily life and music never grows old with the term in it. Accordingly, to the article, “The N-word might be part of pop culture, but it still makes me cringe,” by Britt Julious, Julious reported about President Barack Obama became the highest guest funniest guest on Marc Maron’s with Maron radio live (Julious, 2015). The president went onto explaining that racial prejudice simply could not be curable. Obama explained that people would change the way to use the phrase “nigga” where it could be an appropriation for surrounding environment even with children around. The music is a beautiful melody with meaningful lyrics, and it is wrong just to insert improper terms: nigger, nigga, and Negro are a disgrace. Besides that, music is the number one factor that the young generation can easily catch onto the trend of using profanity because they tend to think it is “cool.” They also think that they could fit in with the cool crowd. “Nigga, a reappropriated eye-dialect word, is so widely used as to be innocuous for my generation” (Julious, 2015). It is wrong in this case. Since music is powerful language, young teenager can misuse the word nigger and hurt someone feeling. It can be considered as a bad habit for young people, they can constantly apply the N-word in their daily speaking without their prior knowledge. “Depending on how old

Censorship has existed since the early ages, dating back to the pre-common era. One of the earliest records of censorship can be found in the Office of the Censor, founded in 443 B.C. to help the Roman council oversee “public morality”.

Censorship in music has been a major problem plaguing America since the early nineteen forties. It came to a head during the nineteen sixties with the Vietnam War and the hippie movement. During the nineteen seventies and eighties heavy metal and hard rock were getting the brunt of the censorship heat. Now in the nineteen nineties the major focus of censorship is rap; primarily gangster rap. Some of the main factors of music in general that cause legal ramifications are sexual content, suggestive violence and obscene language. Censorship is an attack against our first amendment right guaranteeing the freedom of speech. However if a song or album is deemed obscene the first amendment does not protect this.

The essay, ‘“Information Is the Alpha and Omega of Our Work”: Bolshevik Surveillance in Its Pan-European Context’ written by Peter Holoquist, discusses the topic of Surveillance in Russia and how it effected her people. During the time of Stalin – Holoquist believes that surveillance was used to manipulate people, bringing forward ‘the “new man”’ (Suny, 52) In this piece – Holoquist states that there was little trace of the belief in public opinion. Instead, the government did what they believed was best, and all should follow.

As Americans, we pride ourselves on having the ability to say what we want when we want to. This was a right given to us by the First Amendment of the Constitution. The act of censorship creates a barrier between media and freedom of speech. Due to the topic of censorship, many Americans have different opinions on if censorship is a violation of their rights as a citizen of the United States or if it is to preserve the wellbeing of the country. Before the internet became as powerful as it is today, the government reviewed every article, news report, and television show before being released for public viewing to prevent indecencies from occurring in the media. Consequently, as the media continues to flourish, it creates difficulties in the government being able to track everything that is online. Furthermore, the uprising of the internet creates more of a reason for censorship in the media, especially due to the increased use of the internet by children. Americans should include censorship in their everyday lives to a certain extent because of the violence in our country, to provide censorship for children, and to provide positive images.

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.