Censorship
English 10
Censorship
• The practice of officially examining books,
movies, etc., and suppressing unacceptable parts
• Censorship is the control of information and ideas
in a society. Both democratic and non-democratic
countries use it. With the explosion of
communication technology, it has become allpervasive. There is a dispute as to whether
censorship is good or bad.
Censored Books
• http://home.nvg.org/~aga/bulletin43.html
Pros of Censorship
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Censorship of pornographic material prevents the corrupting of the children.
Religious conflicts are avoided by the censorship of material deemed insulting or
offensive to a particular religious community.
Censorship is necessary to preserve the secrets of a nation.
Censorship is useful in hiding sensitive military information, which could be used
by an enemy state.
Scenes of people consuming alcohol or smoking influence people to copy them.
May copy dangerous stunts shown on TV or movies.
Books may be used to portray wrong information about individuals or groups
that could incite violence against them.
It can be used to prevent politically motivated propaganda.
It protects the privacy of people.
Plagiarism is prevented.
Abusive scenes in movies may offend some people.
It protects indigenous cultures from the bad influence of foreign cultures.
Pros continued
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
It prevents the public display of disrespect to any particular individual or
community.
It prevents companies from spreading inaccurate or grossly
exaggerated claims about their products.
It promotes political correctness.
Terrorists are prevented from learning about dangerous technology like
the atom bomb.
Children are prevented from learning things that could harm them and
others.
It prevents the ill effects of globalization affecting societies.
It shields the morals of society.
It restrains vulgarity and obscenity.
It prevents violence by stopping the broadcast of events, which might
trigger it.
Cons of Censorship
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
If sex-related topics are completely censored it becomes difficult to
teach children and teenagers about the dangers of HIV/AIDS.
Dictators and dictatorship use it to promote a flattering image of
themselves and for removing any information that is negative to them.
Freedom of speech is compromised.
Religious fundamentalists like the Taliban use them to coerce the
population.
It encroaches upon the freedom of the press.
It prevents the free flow of ideas.
It may intrude on the privacy of a person.
Withholding of information only leads to ignorance in the society.
Censoring of information may lead to a wrong image perceived by the
public.
Censorship in books, plays and movies may compromise their
entertainment value.
Cons Continued
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Censorship has been misused in the past.
It works against creativity.
If you hide something from people they will become extra curious about
it.
It has no place in a truly democratic society.
It gives rise to and hides human rights abuses.
It is used to control people.
There can be different standards of morals among different societies
quite different from the imposed ones by the censorship.
It may be used to block legitimate criticism.
Governments should not control people.
Individuals have different tastes.
It stifles the opposition, broadcasting only a particular point of view.
People have a right to know.