Media censorship is not an unusual phenomenon around the world, as it has been disapproved by right groups since ancient times. It had originated in ancient times when rulers and religious leaders imposed limitation on the press, with an aim to stop them from spreading information which might turn against them, and the activities conducted by them. Regardless of the differences in geographical location, religion, culture and the tradition, the motive for censorship has remained the same. The most widely used methods to control media are licensing and enacting laws which effectively restrict the freedom of press. Countries like Syria, Zimbabwe and Vietnam have laws and regulations that effectively limit the freedom of press and impose severe restrictions on journalists. Freedom House, an international human rights group, labels these countries as ‘not free’ as the governments impose several restrictions on the press and journalists. According to Universal Declaration of human rights, “freedom of expression is the right of every individual to hold opinions without any obstruction and to gather, find and reveal information and ideas through any media regardless of any frontiers”. In Malaysia, freedom of expression is guaranteed under Article 10(1)(a) of Federal Constitution, however, it is restricted by clause 2 of article 10 and article 4(2)(b). This essential human right is distorted and restricted through different act including Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, Official Secrets Act 1972, Sedition Act 1948 and others. Freedom of Press in Malaysia is associated with the existence of law governing the press. Several laws governing the press in Malaysia limits the press freedom in the country. Malaysia was ranked 146th arou...
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...han beneficial for the state. Although Article 19 of the UDHR ,which states that everyone has the right to freedom, does not create a binding effect to Malaysian law, Malaysia as a member of the United Nation should abide by this vow (Lim,2007). Newspaper publishers are restricted from writing fair and accurate information due to the strict regulations and government ownership of the firms thus misleading the public. Also, the government can misuse the laws that restrict the freedom of expression for their own political benefits.Wang (2001) argued that in order for Malaysia to remain as a democratic society; the press should have the freedom to write and criticize without fear from the government. Though the press may exploit their freedom to express, there is no reason for the Malaysian government to restrict them with regulations that only benefits the government.
Freedom of expression has been enshrined as one of the fundamental rights in constitutions of most of the democratic states of the world. This right is hallmark of an egalitarian democratic state. There cannot be an easy access to this right under a dictatorial regime or monarchy. But under democratic structure, it becomes an imperative feature and censorship or gagging of liberal ideas becomes questionable. Censorship consists of any attempt to suppress information, points of view, or method of expression such as art or literature as anti-social or profane. A human being cannot consider his/her social environment free unless he/she is subject to limitations asfar asfreedom of expression of opinion is concerned. Such condition of existence is not even calmly borne by
“The 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan and the Press Law of July 1965 provided for freedom of the press subject to comprehensive articles of proper behavior. According to the Press Law, the press was free (i.e., independent of government ownership) but must protect the interests of the state and constitutional monarchy, Islam, and public order. When the government was overthrown in July of 1973, 19 newspapers were shut down. Western-style freedom of the press has methodically eroded during the regimes of dictatorship, communism, Mujahidin factions, and the Taliban ("Press Reference–Afghanistan").” When it comes to law enforcement, it is the duty of the ruling power to carry it out. But when the ruling power promulgates laws that sternly go against the freedoms guaranteed by previous edicts of the country, the civilians have no choice but to endure the reality of a deprived life.
Since this country was founded, we have had a set of unalienable rights that our constitution guarantees us to as Americans. One of the most important rights that is mentioned in our constitution is the right to free speech. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the
The media censorship appears in various forms and in almost all countries; few have legal systems that guarantee absolute freedom of the media.
...o show these journalists as a state enemy in people mind.Thus, Recep Tayyip Erdogan the Prime Minister of Turkey see these journalist as an enemy against him,actually he tried to show they as terrorists.Having said that, in 2010, journalists established ''Journalist's Freedom Platform'' and arranged a press release in order to say that there is a problem in terms of freedom of speech and press.On the top of that, also government made a opression on media bosses.As an important example for this, during the Gezi occupy which is a huge demonstrations that created significant inflation against government, most media company did not mention about these issues, especially, at the begining of the demonstrations, people could not see these demonstrations on TV.What I want to say that, as it can clearly seen that the government supressed the media very highly like in fascism.
As we have read many articles on the past, we have been reading about different censorships that are happening in China. It is very important to understand where China came from and how the country has developed their government, and how the totalitarianism government is and has been playing a role in the case of journalism. There are many scholars who have been studying the situations and evolutionary developments of newspapers and journalisms within China and it is important to see how these situations have developed over course of time. This article will elaborate on the facts how journalism and newspapers have evolved until today, and will give specific examples on certain local Chinese newspapers go extravagant ideologies on censorships within Chinese government and newspaper publications.
O’Flaherty, Michael. "Freedom Of Expression: Article 19 Of The International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights And The Human Rights Committee’S General Comment No 34." Human Rights Law Review 12.4 (2012): 627-654. Political Science Complete. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
Freedom of speech is an important issue around the world. Everyone from the newspaper companies to the average citizen is involved in this issue all around the world. The newspaper companies print articles with certain views. This wouldn’t be allowed in certain areas of the world. The common,
How free is freedom of the press in Canada? The freedom of press is guaranteed by Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: “Everyone [has] the fundamental freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication” (Media Law). However, Section 1 states that the fundamental freedoms in democracy can be limited for justifiable reasons: “The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society” (Media Law). There are criminal and common laws on the provincial and federal levels which place legal restriction on how the press gathers and publishes information (Media Law). For example, there are criminal laws against trespassing and recording information (“Defamation on the Internet”). The essay will focus upon the law most relevant to freedom of the press issues, “defamation.”
According to Dahl, this criterion emphasizes that citizens must have the equal and effective opportunities to learn about politics surrounding them (1998, 38). The goal of enlightened understanding is to ensure that citizens can make the best decisions that serve their interests. Analyzing freedom of press is an effective indicator to measure enlightened understanding because media is the best medium that citizens could access to learn about what is going on in their government. Without freedom of press, freedom of expression of journalists and scholars are violated and thus, they might encounter difficulties in reporting about politics. Although India has the Right to Information Act, which assures the promotion of "transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority," it is not being enforced enough (2005, 1). According to a research, India 's press status is evaluated as "partly free" (Freedom House, 2014). Furthermore, the press status of India 's score stands at 39 out of 100, where 0 represents the freest status and 100 represents the least free status (Sinha, 2014). In the World Press Freedom Index, India was ranked as the 140th out of 180 countries in terms of freedom of media (Reporters Without Borders ,
The implementation of freedom of expression entails the abilities to raise the individual’s belief, ideas or opinions by all legal means, the opinions or ideas stated or presented must therefore not cause or lead to harm, hatred, violence or injustice to others (Anon., 2016). The use of and accurate information will not be restricted by censorship (Anon., 1990). The inhabitants may contest acts that violate their rights which are documented under the constitution and other laws in Mozambique.
Xu, Beina. "Media Censorship in China." Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, 12 Feb. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
Every human possesses some guaranteed basic freedoms and rights, whether it is the freedom of speech, or the freedom to express themselves. However, the government seems to be increasingly determined to limit these freedoms using censorship to confine these rights that we usually take for granted. The most important facet of media in general is that it allows people to express themselves freely. In fact, this freedom of expression that music allows us is one of the primary reasons why it exists. Sadly, many of the current artists have forgotten that, but nonetheless, censorship seems to always be there to limit the expression of those who choose to place deeper messages in their songs. Tackling censorship is much more important than it appears to be at the surface; to take 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.
It is the year 2014. The growth and advancement in technology and innovation lead to the birth of new channels of media. Back tracking to the 1950s, the primary source of media would have been printed such as newspapers, articles and magazines. The introduction of the televisions and cinemas in the late 20th century resulted in the production of masterpieces such as movies and dramas alike. Currently, the internet is the unified source for all kinds of media which gives allows us to freely express and exhibit our perspectives and ideas. On the other hand, this revolution in the media industry saw the production of certain media that are unsuitable for certain audiences. Thus, government bodies such as Malaysia’s Multimedia and Communication Commission are set up to selectively evaluate and censor contents to ensure that media would not be harmful to the public. Therefore, this essay strives to prove that censorship is sometimes justified.
Freedom of speech and expression is one of the fundamental liberties provided under article 10 of the Federal Constitution. Article 10 provide that, “every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression. This provision explains that every person has the right to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without government interference. Therefore, all Malaysian citizen have the right to express views abud through various ways either through articles, books, radio broadcasting or communication of internet. However, the freedom of speech and expression in Malaysia is not absolute and subject to certain restrictions thus a person cannot simply speak whatever he wants.