Censorship is any suppression or regulation by a government or other body of expression, in written or other forms, based on content.
What is CENSORSHIP — concept, definition in simple words.
In simple terms, censorship is the suppression or prohibition of any books, movies, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a security threat.
According to Webster’s Dictionary, “to censor” means “to examine for the purpose of suppressing or removing anything that is undesirable.”
Censorship occurs whenever some people succeed in imposing their political or moral values on others by suppressing words, images, or ideas that they find offensive.
The channels of censorship can range from communication between groups to communication between individuals. Likewise, a wide range of media, including literature, art, music, electronic communications, and everyday speech, can be censored. In each case, censorship is perceived as the reduction of undesirable speech and the direct or indirect promotion of useful speech.
Censorship may include the concealment or editing of existing information, as well as the prevention of the creation of information. In the interest of protecting material from a wider audience, content that is deemed offensive or harmful to the public welfare or government is prohibited or regulated.
Censorship is primarily a governmental activity. But it can also be carried out very effectively by private groups and occurs when individuals or groups try to prevent others from speaking, printing, or depicting something.
The history of censorship.
Throughout history, researchers, artists, and scholars have been subject to censorship by
- religious,
- political,
- military,
- and corporate authorities.
For example, the ancient Greek philosopher Plato defended various degrees of censorship in The Republic, arguing that to create a good society, we must promote good materials and suppress bad ones. The content of important texts and the dissemination of knowledge were strictly controlled in ancient Chinese society (as is most information in modern “communist” China). For centuries, the Roman Catholic Church’s List of Forbidden Books banned most of the literature as contrary to the church’s teachings and dogmas.
In the twenty-first century, much controversy has surrounded the potential censorship of dual-use biological research that could enable the production and use of biological weapons. Whether censorship is ethically appropriate in this contemporary context depends on how a consensus is found (and will it be?) between the value of free communication without inhibitions and the prevention of harm.
What is most often censored?
- Language
- Art
- Books
- Periodicals
- Movies
- Plays
- Photos
- TV programs
- Radio programs
- Internet (websites and e-mail)
- News reports.
Who is a censor?
The word “censor” originated in ancient Rome, where the government appointed officials to conduct censuses and oversee public morality.
In today’s world, censors seek to suppress freedom of thought and expression by restricting speech, printed materials, symbolic messages, freedom of association, books, art, music, films, television programs, and Internet sites.
So, a censor is traditionally an official whose job is to examine literature, films, or other forms of creative expression and remove or ban anything they deem inappropriate.
Who can be a censor?
- The government
- The church
- Private pressure groups
- Speakers, writers, and artists (self-censorship)
- Someone else.
The rationale for censorship and its types.
No one wants to lose their rights and freedoms. No one wants to be completely censored or have their audience limited in any way. Direct censorship can be legal (based on the laws of a particular country) or illegal (a violation of human rights and freedoms). All types of censorship, depending on its validity, can be classified as follows:
- Moral censorship: removal of obscene or questionable materials from the point of view of morality (censorship of mat, sexual or pornographic information).
- Military censorship: keeping information obtained by military intelligence secret.
- Political censorship: a government’s decision not to disclose information to its citizens or to suppress dissent and opposition in dictatorships, authoritarianism, totalitarianism, etc.
- Religious censorship: the means by which any material that a religious community or organization considers undesirable for dissemination is removed (censorship of religious information, for example, the Vatican’s concealment of the existence of more Gospels than the known four).
- Corporate censorship: preventing the dissemination of information that portrays a business in an undesirable or negative light.
Forms of censorship.
Censorship takes two main forms:
- imposed by the state,
- voluntary.
The first form is imposed by a power group on individuals who are under the group’s control. Usually, this form of censorship includes fines or threats of fines, which create a “deterrent effect”, encouraging people to censor themselves to avoid punishment. The essence of this form of censorship is that certain ideas and forms of expression threaten individual, organizational, and societal well-being.
The second form of censorship involves positive voluntary self-censorship by people who decide that restricting their forms of expression has its benefits. Such censorship implies absolute standards that cannot be violated. Its essence is that all people, not just children, are vulnerable and need protection from offensive materials.
Some censorship is mostly symbolic, offering a way to strengthen social solidarity by avoiding offending common values (e.g., banning flag burning). It can be a form of moral education, such as a ban on racist and sexist language. Or, masquerading as high principles of protecting public welfare and morality, it may simply include a desire to protect the interests of politically, economically, and religiously powerful people by limiting alternative views and criticizing or delegitimizing those in power.
Reasons for censorship
The most common historical reasons for censorship are:
- political (rebellion, treason, threat to national security, suppression of opposition, retention or seizure of power)
- religious (blasphemy, lies),
- moral (obscenity, impiety),
- social (rudeness, disrespect, disorder).
Of course, all of these reasons can be interrelated. They all relate to the assertion that a particular expression may negatively affect the public interest. Thus, censorship is often justified by the protection of the public welfare.
Censorship and freedom of speech on the Internet.
Of all the myriad myths that swarm through cyberspace, one of the most insidious is that the Internet is inherently a tool of liberation, a tool that necessarily promotes democracy by giving voice to those who lack political power, thereby undermining the authoritarian and repressive nature of government. Such views are widely shared by Western politicians, who tend to exaggerate the scale and power of allegedly freedom-loving cyber dissidents. Closely related to this idea is the notion that the global community of netizens is self-governing.
The reality, unfortunately, is more complicated and burdensome: The Internet is far from the unrelenting force for freedom that some of its advocates portray. Moreover, censorship thrives in the age of information. Many have argued that the birth of the Internet heralded the death of censorship. But this is not the case. The world’s authoritarian regimes have demonstrated the same affinity for technology as their disaffected citizens. Many governments around the world are aggressively restricting access to the Internet. At the same time, online opposition to censorship and political activism is usually limited to small groups of educated people.
The availability of the Internet reflects, among other things, the willingness of governments to allow or encourage their populations to enter cyberspace. Repressive governments often fear the liberating potential of the Internet, which allows people to bypass tightly controlled media channels. Critical analyses of cyberspace, for example, point to geo-surveillance and invasions of privacy. Clearly, the Internet can be made to work against people as well as for them. Cyberspace can be used to strengthen hegemonic power, spy on citizens, create an atmosphere of fear, and prevent or minimize dissent.
Shutting down the Internet (in India, for example) is severe censorship, an extraordinary measure that repressive authoritarian regimes use to restrict the flow of information. Even in times of civil unrest, they result in censoring content that is legitimate and can be used to reassure and reassure large numbers of people. Internet filters are increasingly being called for to introduce censorship. Any filter will lead to a disproportionate system of censorship that will only grow over time. Blocking of websites today is often done in a secretive process, in which the authors and end users of the content are not notified or given the opportunity to respond. Secret orders are issued that deprive people of legal remedies.
Motives for censorship on the Internet.
There are several motivations for online censorship and thus several forms and types, including
- political suppression of dissidents, human rights defenders, or comments that offend the state (e.g., in China, Iran, Myanmar, and the Russian Federation)
- religious control in order to prevent the spread of ideas considered heretical or blasphemous (as in many Muslim states);
- intellectual property protection, including restrictions on illegally downloaded movies and music;
- cultural restrictions that exist as part of the oppression of ethnic minorities (e.g., refusing to maintain government websites in certain languages) or sexual minorities (e.g., gays and lesbians).
Typically, governments that seek to impose censorship do so under the pretext of protecting public morality from perceived sins such as pornography or gambling, although recently the fight against terrorism has become a favorite argument. Intentionally vague notions of national security and social stability are also commonly used.
What is most often censored in the world.
- Sexuality. Sex in art and entertainment is the most frequent target of censorship crusades. Many examples come to mind. A painting depicting the classical statue of Venus of Milo was “censored,” meaning it was removed from a store because the managers of the shopping center deemed the half-naked image “too shocking.” Hundreds of literary works, from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings to John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, have been banned from public schools because of their sexual content. It is worth noting that no causal link between exposure to sexually explicit material and anti-social or violent behavior has ever been scientifically established, despite numerous attempts to do so. Censorship of sexual expressions on moral grounds is just a relic of the puritanical heritage of many countries around the world.
- Violence. Today’s calls for censorship are motivated not only by morality and taste, but also by the widespread belief that exposure to images of violence causes people to act in destructive ways. Pro-censorship forces, including many politicians, often cite a plethora of scientific studies that supposedly prove that fictional violence leads to real-life violence. Research on the relationship between media violence and real-life violence is a subject of serious debate. Children have been shown television programs with violent episodes in laboratory settings and then tested for aggressive behavior. Some of these studies show that watching violent television can temporarily cause some children to engage in “object aggression” (e.g., popping balloons, hitting dolls, or playing aggressive sports), but not actual criminal violence against another person.
Japanese television, manga, anime, and movies are known for their extreme, graphic violence and abundance of sexual scenes, but Japan has a very low crime rate.
The only clear statement that can be made is that the relationship between art and human behavior is very complex. Violence and sexually explicit art and entertainment have been a staple of human cultures since time immemorial. Many behaviorists believe that these topics play a useful and constructive role in society, acting as an alternative outlet for individual aggression. Total censorship of these topics is not a plus for social or individual interests.
Examples of censorship in the world.
- In Hungary, the state media authority has the right to collect detailed information about journalists. The regime of Prime Minister Viktor Orban uses fines, taxes, and licensing to pressure critical media outlets and directs state advertising to friendly media outlets. A comprehensive report by several global press freedom organizations concludes: “Today, Hungary’s independent media face increasing censorship.”
- In Pakistan, the state regulator suspended the license of Geo TV, the most popular channel in the country, after the intelligence services filed a defamation lawsuit against it following the shooting of one of the channel’s most prominent journalists. The channel was closed for 15 days in June 2014. According to Pakistani journalists, censorship, and corruption are widespread in the country.
- In Turkey, a recent amendment to the Internet law gave the Directorate of Telecommunications the right to shut down any website or content “to protect national security and public order, as well as to prevent crime.” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been criticized for the imprisonment of dozens of journalists, as well as for using tax investigations and huge fines in response to critical reporting (e.g., in 2009, tax authorities fined a leading media group $2.5 billion). Recently, the government blocked Twitter and other social media platforms, allegedly in response to a corruption scandal involving Erdogan and other high-ranking officials.
- The Russian Federation censors any uncontrolled opposition statements about government policy. Recently, the so-called “List of Foreign Agents” was created, which literally makes it impossible for any media independent of the state to operate.
