Summary: The Democracy Of Censorship

The Democracy of Censorship

Censorship is the ability to withhold information, opinion, or expression by a government or authority and has been a big issue in the United States. Censoring was mainly used when involving moral threats, social structures, and religious institutions. Although in the twentieth century censorship became seen as a violation of human rights. Many people argue that censorship can never be justified unless in extreme cases of national security due to the first amendment, which states the freedoms of speech, expression, and the press. It is also true that the U.S constitution did not become fully applied to these issues until the twentieth century. Despite this, many others disagree and argue that censoring things is

For example, military secrets need to be censored so that the enemy does not find them out. The issue of pornography is a big issue as well. When it is viewed children they tend to model their own behavior and their expectations on the obscene sexual dynamics they see on the internet. Studies are showing an increase in aggressiveness and more sexual abuses from males who have been regularly exposed to porn, along with self-esteem issues among many women. However porn is not the only thing on the internet that should be censored. The fact that there is fictional violence in many video games, TV, and movies has a natural effect on us humans. We have gotten familiar with this, which in it of itself is an issue. Despite these grave issues the U.S Constitution protects these things from being censored

Besides that though, if you filter some things many times other things that you do not want to be filtered become blocked as well, which then raises tension (Witherbee).

Furthermore, Geraldine Wagner and Amy Witherbee, use Logos in their articles to let us know about the logic behind the reason for censoring. For example, when the article says that the violence shown in videos, etc. tend to affect the way people act in the world, that is a very logical reason to censor that. As well as the reasons behind censoring pornography and how it affects woman’s self –esteem, and increases sexual abuses among men.

Therefore, censorship is necessary to an extent, but it is very hard to censor those things when the first amendment prohibits that (supposedly meant for protecting that). Yes, there are many people who disagree with the idea of censorship, but there are actually very few Americans who fully oppose it either (Witherbee). The issue of how to and if you should censor things will continue to be an issue, but with the knowledge of the bad effects things being exposed can have on people your mind may have to