PROS :
Censorship does not mean restraining the expression of people, in fact
it is imposed to protect them.
Censorship of pornographic material prevents the minds of children
from becoming corrupt.
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.
It 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. Hence, censoring such scenes serves a useful purpose.
People may copy dangerous stunts shown on TV or movies. Censorship
proves necessary here.
Books may be used to portray wrong information about individuals or
groups that could incite violence against them. Censorship would
definitely prove helpful here.
It can be used to prevent politically motivated propaganda.
It protects the privacy of people.
Plagiarism is prevented.
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pros-and-consof-censorship.html
1.Things like Child Pornography, Intense Racism, and other offensive
things are already commonly censored from books and film. Just
because these things are on the internet as opposed to some other
form of medium doesn't mean that they, too, shouldn't be censored.
(Butt, 2009)
2.Just because it is difficult to monitor who posts what things on the
internet doesn't mean our Government shouldn't try. If illegal
films/books are sold, our Government is going to do what's in their
power to track down the culprit; the internet should be the same way.
Other nations have much more efficient ways of tracking who posts
what on the internet and these methods have the potential to protect
a lot of people from offensive materials.
The things that internet censorship could protect against (The
maltreatment of children, terrorism, racial hatred, crime) are international
issues and the world would be made a better place if such things were
censored from the internet indefinitely.
CONS:
Censorship denies access to vital information.
If sex-related topics are completely censored it becomes difficult to
teach children and teenagers about the dangers of Sexually
Transmitted Diseases and HIV/AIDS.
Dictators use censorship to promote a flattering image of themselves
and for removing any information that goes against 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.
It is generally associated with dictatorship.
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pros-and-consof-censorship.html
3.There are already laws against things like inciting crime and child
pornography. The Government should get those criminals with the
crimes that are already on the books and not by censoring the
internet at the risk of infringing on innocent people's speech. (Butt,
2009)
4.Our Founding Fathers were concerned with the Freedom of the Press at
the time the Constitution was ratified because printed news was the
most popular medium of the time; likewise, they would probably be
very concerned and against censorship of the internet, our most
popular medium, today.
Internet censorship would increase the size of the Government and would
likely prove impossible as the web is huge and constantly growing with
new information and pages. Instead, products are made for people to
protect themselves and their children from inappropriate materials,
allowing them control over themselves instead of trusting the Government
to do it for them.