Censorship
One of the most despised sentiments an individual can endure is knowing the truth has been hidden from you. Numerous countries around the world are hiding reality from their citizens. Even if this may be good willed at first, this act manipulates a population with lies. Censorship is the banning of any sort of communication (e.g Literature) which is considered harmful or obscene to a certain population by the government (Gilc). This may enable a country to evolve in a short term basis but this development will be very superficial and will not last long. Every individual has the right to see what they will and this right should not be perpetrated. When censorship occurs the government is limiting the general knowledge of a country. Some may say that it is for the good of the population but it is simply protecting people from reality.
Censorship should not be employed as it is unsustainable due to its superficiality. A country may boast about their general development, but often the way it is done is hidden from the public eye. Economic growth is one of the many components taken into consideration when calculating a country's development, Singapore excels in this criteria. Unfortunately this is not the key to a long term growth. The economy changes rapidly and a slight mistake could cause Singapore to find themselves in deep debt. Singapore is a perfect example of a country where its success is extremely superficial. Few know the quantity of information hidden by the government. This country may seem like an ideal place to live due to their reliable safety or encouraging educational systems but this often leads up to the youth population being over protected, and when moving to other countries finding it exceedin...
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...g the truth from coming out in fear that its citizens might begin to think negatively of their ideologies and motives. The government would not be doing this if they were in full confidence of their actions. If they had a good conscious they would not have to worry about the information released as they know that what they are doing in reality is well intentioned.
Overall, Censorship should have never been taken into consideration and is not the ethical nor right way to lead a country due to its lack of integrity. History has shown that this type of way is very superficial and not sustainable. This unsustainability is caused by a lack of integrity and an inability from the government to manage their citizens with confidence and respect. They are forced to manipulate their population whilst hiding the reality and imposing the citizens to live with lies.
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.
On the other hand, there might b reasons as to why the government censors most of its news. One of these reasons might be because of “national security”. If the government were to release more than enough information, we might be threatened by people who take advantage of the situation.
Freedom of speech and expression is one of the most important rights that we have in this country. Our forefathers knew this and acknowledged this in our great constitution which protects our rights as citizens in America. Censorship is a complete contradiction to this concept that has helped make America the greatest country in the world. If we do not stand up for our rights for free speech, someday it may be taken away all together. Everyday there are people out there trying to ban and censor things from Americans, things that as an American you have the right to view. Censorship must be stopped at all costs.
Censorship has been a big part of the world’s history and especially America’s history. One of the most quoted amendments to the United States constitution is the first amendment; “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ...” This amendment guaranteeing free speech, press, and religion is still heavily debated and contested today. Censorship, as a challenge to free speech and press has been allowed many times and has been heavily debated itself. Many people censor for many different reasons and in many different forms. Censorship itself is not always a bad thing and has in some cases been used for protection of the general population.
Censorship, defined as the act of destroying, suppressing or withholding information otherwise intended for the public, is detrimental to the community in a number of ways and has no place in a democratic society. Firstly, it is detrimental to the progression of social ethics, morals and ideals and limits diversity in society while prolonging ignorance. Secondly, it is a breach of freedom of expression, free speech and the free press. It will be demonstrated in this essay that censorship does happen in Australia, that it is not beneficial to society, and that it should be replaced with a system of management where members of the public will always have a choice as to whether or not they can view material intended for the public. Censorship in Australia comes about in a few ways.
The authors of these passages have very different ideas about censorship. After evaluation I will determine which passage states a stronger argument. I believe that Passage 1 provides a stronger argument over Passage 2.
Censorship is the suppression of publishing information on the Internet or television (Naik). The government blocks only the content that is proved to be unfit for the public. Censorship is only used to a certain extent in the United States of America, but it is much more widespread in other parts of the world. Many people argue that the First Amendment to the constitution provides freedom of speech. Therefore, fining television stations for not censoring explicit materials could be a violation First Amendment rights (Ruschmann). Most people agree that the reason that the United States survives as a democracy is because of the freedoms provided by the First Amendment. With these freedoms revoked, the government could become too controlling (Ruschmann). Censorship also occurs when politicians commit crimes and feel threatened by the media. Political Censorship is unjust to the public because stories about the citizens can be posted on the Internet, and played on the news yet, the citizens have no control over this public display (Censorship).
Throughout the development of new nations within the last two centuries, there have been various issues raised and fought over regarding the ruling of the nations themselves and the nation’s peoples. These issues range anywhere from form of government; whether a nation should be a tyranny, monarchy, or a democracy; to how much freedom the nation’s citizens should have. By and large one of the most important topics in recent politics is the idea of media censorship, anywhere from the question of first amendment rights in the United States to the extremely dystopian society of North Korea, where incredibly censored and doctored information dominates social life - and anything positive is re-written to be caused by their ‘dear leader’, whoever the current monarch may be.
Censorship is the government’s way of filtering what we see and hear on any social media platform. In 1984, censorship is a key factor to their government. The main character, Winston, works for The Ministry of Truth where it’s his job to alter historical records. The goal of their government is to have the past reflect the present. Orwell states, “Books...were recalled and rewritten again and again, and were invariably reissued without any admission that any alteration had been made”(George Orwell,1984). Books had been rewritten numerous times right under everyone’s noses. In our society today, we see censorship quite often as well. In a recent article about universities and censorship from the National Review, it is stated that “The courts are failing not because the underlying legal doctrines are flawed but because the remedies for censorship are completely inadequate”(David French, National Review). This quote states that our society isn’t content with our current censorship laws. The whole ideation of censorship is something we as a society aren’t comfortable with. In some cases, it goes against our basic rights, such as freedom of speech. We differ from 1984 in the sense that we are not completely oblivious to our government’s actions. Either that or we choose to defy authority without copious amounts of fear. We as people know our rights
Censorship according to the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press can be defined as, “To remove anything offensive from books, films, etc., or to remove parts considered unsuitable from private letters, especially ones sent during war or from a prison”(Cambridge Dictionary). Censorship in the news and in the media takes many forms in todays fast paced world. Even with the slightly leak in information or even misleading information could cause todays world to be turned on its head and can cause people to interpret the issue in many ways which could have numerous implications. This is why such information is filtered by some governments around the world before it is aired or printed. There are countless arguments as to why or why not information should be censored as each individual is entitled to their own opinion. Censorship impacts people ability to choose freely as it is controls ideas and thoughts and thus influences their freedom of expression or their to express their views on issues, ideologies or even practice their faith.
Tackling censorship is much more important than it appears to be at the surface; taking down censorship would help preserve the expression of thought. It would help preserve the right to listen to the unaltered forms of everything. Most importantly, it would help preserve the rapidly weakening basic right of speech. Censorship has always altered the lives of many people, whether they know it or not. People are constantly exposed to the censored version of entertainment.
Censorship allows governments more control of society than they already have, slowly progressing governments utilizing censorship to a dictatorship. Often times, this censorship can lead to immense rebellions. A good example of this is in China, where Google has been censored by a provider called The Great Firewall of China, which censors information that could be viewed as defamatory or insulting to Chinese government and culture. According to the article “Google turns off China censorship warning” as published by BBC News Technology, “Google has had a rocky relationship with the Chinese authorities since January 2010, when the company said it may shut down Chinese operations due to a ‘sophisticated and targeted’ cyber attack. Google said at the time that it was no longer willing to censor the Google search engine”. Many journalists have also taken a look at Egypt, which also utilizes censorship. According to “Egyptian authorities step up censorship” as published by the Committee to Protect Journalists website, the new military-run Egyptian government is censoring news outlets and keep journalists, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates. “Egyptia...
Hence censorship is essential in order to maintain peace and stability in the society. It will decrease the crime rates. Children can be exposed to sexual matters in school in a different manner as education. Excessive amount of sexual explicit material would surely be harmful. Censorship does not have a downside and it will be a better society.
Censorship is the control of communication between people. This includes restrictions on what can be seen and heard. Mostly, censorship is practiced by Governments. But religious and political leaders and special interest groups also try to control the flow of information. Censorship violates individual rights, hides useful information, and limits freedom of speech.
Censorship affects our society in many different ways, it affects the music we listen to, the movies we watch, the books we read, and many other aspects of our everyday lives. Even though many might argue that censorship doesn't really have a place in a society that emphases freedom of speech and the freedom to express oneself, but censorship is an essential and needed part of our growing society, it's needed in the television industry, the Internet, and the music industry. Censorship helps to make our world a better place because it creates a better environment for us to live in.