Censorship Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
- In ancient Rome, censorship was the office or function of a censor. This article is about controls over publication and discussion.
Censorship can be explicit, as in laws passed to prevent information being published or propagated (as in Australia or China where certain Internet pages are not permitted entry), or it can take the form of intimidation by government or even by popular censure, where people are afraid to express or support certain opinions for fear of losing their lives, or their jobs, position in society, or in academia, their academic credibility. In this latter form it is sometimes called McCarthyism.
Censorship is regarded as a typical feature of dictatorships and other authoritarian political systems. Democratic nations usually have far less institutionalized censorship, and instead tout the importance of freedom of speech.
Some thinkers understand censorship to include other attempts to suppress points of view or ideas such as propaganda, media manipulation, spin, disinformation or 'free speech zones'. These methods, collectively, tend to work by disseminating misleading information, preventing other ideas from obtaining a receptive audience.
Others point out the suppression of access to the means of dissemination of ideas by governmental bodies such as the FCC in the United States of America, the CRTC in Canada, or by a newspaper that refuses to run commentary the publisher disagrees with, or a lecture hall that refuses to rent itself out to a particular speaker. Thinkers such as philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand consider this latter form of censorship to be an acceptable outcome of the defense of property rights. Contradictions of her position emerge from her disapproval of state backed monopoly license in the arena of radio and telecommunication broadcast and state funding of the arts.
Data havens and decentralized peer-to-peer file sharing systems such as Freenet can be used to prevent censorship.
Wartime censorship is carried out with the intention of preventing the release of information that might be advantageous to the enemy. Typically it involves obfuscation of times or locations, or delaying the release of information (e.g. the objective of an operation) until it is of no possible use to enemy forces. Mention of weapons and equipment (especially if newly introduced) is another favourite area for censorship. The moral issues here are somewhat different as release of the information carries a high risk of increased casualties among one's own forces and possibly loss of the overall conflict.
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2 Lists of banned works 3 Readings 4 See also 5 External links |
This is an Article on Censorship. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Censorship Analysis of censorship in action
Lists of banned works
Readings
See also
External links