C ENSORSHIP
By Alex Reyes

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Introduction
•
Overview
•
Positives
•
Criticisms
•
Opinion Piece

C ENSORSHIP
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Suppression of information for different rationales
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Moral
Military
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Political
Corporate
Religious
Purpose is to protect 3 basic social institutions
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Family
Church
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State
Artistic, intellectual, religious, political, public, and personal life all liable for censorship

R ATIONALES FOR C ENSORSHIP
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Moral
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Obscenities and other equally offensive things
Military
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Civil Censorship
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Suppression of civilian communication in a given area
Prisoner of War Censorship
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Suppression of incoming/outgoing communications for people being held by armed forces
Field Press Censorship
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Suppression of information under Military jurisdiction intended for civilians
Armed Forces Censorship
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Suppression of incoming/outgoing personal communications for people under Military jurisdiction

R ATIONALES FOR C ENSORSHIP
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Political
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Suppressing or distorting inconvenient information that could lead to dissent from the general public
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Corporate
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Suppressing or distorting inconvenient information that could lead to a tainted image or profits
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Religious
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Suppression of information that could be objectionable or inconvenient for a specific faith

H ISTORY OF C ENSORSHIP
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Plato
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Argued that art should be subservient to morality
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Art that could not strengthen morality should be banned
Allowing such art to exist should be considered crime
(heresy)
Rome
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Only high class citizens had right to free speech
Public prosecution often occurred
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All Roman citizens had to plead loyalty to the emperor
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Resistance punishable by death

H ISTORY OF C ENSORSHIP
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Roman Catholic Church
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Banned books that opposed orthodox beliefs and morals
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18 th Century
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Greater emphasis on basic human rights