...Censorship a Contravention to Freedom of Speech During the 21st century, one of the most important concepts known to people around the world is the freedom of speech. People coming from different countries, having diverse religions and living in dissimilar backgrounds talk about it every day. In some countries people do solicit for it as their right. But the question is, “Is there something called freedom of speech in the first place? Or is it just a fantasy that can never be accomplished? Or are we even talked into thinking that we do possess it?” In the midst of all this bewilderment, the notion of censorship pops up to clarify the image. The word censorship is familiar to people, for everybody has heard about the governmental censorship...
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...information is commonly referred to as censorship. Censorship comes in a great amount of forms and can be enforced in various ways. Moral censorship has been rather accepted as its primary purpose is to hide the obscene or morally questionable, however, political censorship is often frowned upon as large numbers of the population deem governments have no right to hide information from the population. While military censorship is a necessity due to tactics and sensitive issues. From the forms of censorship arises the concern of when is censorship ethical and acceptable. Therefore, from an ethical standpoint, censorship is right if it is used to protect morals, which includes opinions, rights, justness, to protect...
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...Censorship in America Welcome to America. The land of the free and the home of those all too willing to use that right to its fullest extent. The first nation truly founded on the right to speak one’s mind without consequence, America is now the most prosperous nation in the world, largely due to that very fact. We as Americans are blessed to live in a nation that is thriving both politically and socially, both as innovator and steady power, both as a community and as a collection of individuals. The marks of American society have spread far beyond the nation’s borders, with everything from the Big Mac to Steven Spielberg movies to democracy itself making it’s impact felt on this modern world. The name America has become synonymous with freedom, and through this freedom, great wealth, power, and success. And yet history has shown, through the example of democracies like Athens and Rome, that even the greatest of civilizations eventually swerve off course. After reading Patrick Garry’s “An American Paradox: Censorship in a Nation of Free Speech”, Marjorie Heins’ “Not In Front Of The Children”, and various statements from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), I have come to believe that the unstoppable juggernaut that is America may too be in danger of losing its way. The principles of freedom and human rights that this country was founded and subsequently prospered on are often quickly abandoned in the effort to protect the general public from anything deemed even slightly...
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...Do people really understand their actions if they have been censored their whole life? The answer is no. How can people understand what they are doing wrong if they are never taught what was right. The answer is they don’t understand right from wrong if they have been constantly censored either by the government or just in general. Censorship has negative effects on both an individual and society. Government censorship has a negative effect on the youth in society. An example of censorship affecting an individual and society is in part one of Fahrenheit 451, Clarisse says “I’m afraid of children my own age. They kill each other.” (Bradbury 30). Clarisse is scared of children her age, she is scared to socialize and do things with them because they go around killing each other for fun. They simply don’t understand what they are really doing due to their government censoring them from anything and everything. “The most basic feature of the thought reform environment, the psychological current upon which all else depends, is the control of human communication. Through this milieu control the totalist environment seeks to establish domain over not only the individual's communication with the outside...
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...regarding Censorship of the Internet. According to the textbook, censorship is a way used by governments or religious institutions to supervise or regulate the public access to offensive or harmful materials (Quinn 2012, p.496). Internet censorship applies the same discipline which regulates the public access to harmful content on internet. Nowadays, internet is a place with huge potential for growth. Statistics suggest that the total growth of new internet users is 566.4% from December 31, 2000 to 2012 (Internet World Stats 2012) (Refer to Appendix one). In the mean time, the resources and contents on the internet are growing rapidly at an uncontrollable rate. To some extent, there are almost no restrictions of these materials on the internet. Basically people can almost find everything they want on internet no matter the information they found is right or wrong. Is it necessary to censor the internet and restrict the access to harmful contents? This is a controversial topic that leads to a hot debate these years. Some people think censorship can work effectively and is necessary on internet, while others think not. In the main part, the essay will explain and give evidence about how censorship can work in some cases but may become negatives in others. There is no doubt that internet censorship can work in some cases, especially when it comes to some vulnerable groups on internet such as children, youth and the old. One of the obvious instances for internet censorship would...
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...Censorship is a big deal in modern society. Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or institutions. There is many different types of censorship. There is Media Censorship, and there is censorship in books. There is also censorship in school, with filters and limits of what websites you are allowed to be on. In The United States the first amendment states that every American has a right to the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press. In elementary school, censorship is only really common in the school library. Many books can...
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...Abstract In this era of information, Internet and censorship are considered to be opposite to each other. Where internet is the source of worldwide knowledge and censorship is the policy to censor some of the information which can cause any type of disruption. In Pakistan, the use of this new technology is under practice with the control of censorship on some content. This research paper looks at the measurements taken by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to control the censored information and block the sites which holds the improper and immoral information. The paper tends to find the historical background of the internet censorship in Pakistan holding the precautionary measures taken by PTA and how the religious values are protected by blocking various anti-Islamic sites. The guidelines are being followed by the Government of Pakistan in order to supervise the censored material on the internet. Introduction Censorship is the act or policy of omitting the obscene, corrupt and politically dangerous content form the books, movies/ films etc. (Wikipedia) Internet censorship is to restrict every type of content that includes immoral and offensive approach. (Wikipedia) Till 2010 in Pakistan, people had the open and unrestricted access to every kind of religious, political, social and sexual escalating content on the internet. The websites offering the critical content against Pakistani government and military are also banned. Pakistan government has not really...
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...Bradbury ties personal freedom to the right of an individual having the freedom of expression when he utilizes the issue of censorship in Fahrenheit 451. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution reads: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for redress of grievances. The common reading of the First Amendment is that commitment to free speech is not the acceptance of only non-controversial expressions that enjoy general approval. To accept a commitment to the First Amendment means, in the words of Justice Holmes, "freedom for what we hate." As quoted in Students' Right to Read (NCTE, 1982), "Censorship leaves students with an inadequate and distorted picture of the ideals, values, and problems of their culture. Writers may often be the spokesmen of their culture, or they may stand to the side, attempting to describe and evaluate that culture. Yet, partly because of censorship or the fear of censorship, many writers are ignored or inadequately represented in the public schools, and many are represented in anthologies not by their best work but by their safest or least offensive work." What are the issues involved in censorship? Imagine that a group wants to ban Fahrenheit 451 because Montag defies authority. For the sake of the argument, assume for a moment that...
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...Research Paper: Censorship On March 4th 2009, Mary was walking into her living room when she saw her 8 year old daughter was watching tv. Then all of a sudden an extremely explicit sex scene had come up. Her daughter laid in shock as she had never seen something like that before.(Cafemom.com). Censorship is the process of examining books, movies, tv shows, etc and suppressing unacceptable parts. Censorship is a must in this society in order to censor intense racism, pornographic material, and much more from innocent mids such as mary's daughter. Censorship is extremely vital in order to create a safe and peaceful atmosphere within our society. Censorship is basically an official who observes any and all books, film, music, etc for the purpose of suppressing or censor controversial or inappropriate content. As for the status quo on censorship, the officials who control censorship are the FCC and they are given all the power from the government in order to censor all explicit content. And explicit content can be very dangerous to young children with their innocent and gullible minds. Children can be heavily influenced by their surrounding world and with the whole world in the hands of technology, it would be so much easier to view and attempt extremely violent stunts. “Ten-year-old Ryan Gooding has always been an inquisitive and experimental kid, but that's all changed now...Gooding was conducting a little experiment known as the “Flaming Bottle” when something went...
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...Censorship: What’s the fuss? When should censorship in art be put in place, and should it be put in place? Allowing art such as that of a very provocative taste will definitely cause a lot of noise. Noise like the standards needing to be invoked that deal with images of naked children in their works, as any work with naked person is pornography. For methods of censoring, would it be fair to retract any monetary gain if the art is “inappropriate” or “lewd,” or should the work be banned? Should Congress be able to step in and have a say in the censorship, or is messing around in federally funded art overstepping their boundaries? In the education field too, they have to try to make a decision to censor or allow provocative works of art. The...
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...legislated just the same (McCormick). This case is the most recent of many that censorship has become a major battleground. Since first the shootings of April 1999 in Columbine Colorado, and most recently, the 2004 Super Bowl Halftime show in which singer Justin Timberlake exposed the breast of fellow singer Janet Jackson, the government has made it its priority to influence the entertainment industry to put into place new rules, such as the one in NASCAR, to regulate “inappropriate” material, therefore increasing censorship. On top of this, the industry itself has begun to attempt a type of self-censorship. Although censorship has been around for ages, what is it and why does it exist? Censorship in today’s era is a higher power attempting to prevent disturbing or painful sights, sounds, or any other information form from reaching the public in order to keep a feeling of well moral being. However, the main question in today’s times is whether or not censorship is necessary in today’s world, and if the government should be able to force censorship on the entertainment industry. Though the case involving the NASCAR driver is the most recent ridiculous form of censorship, it has taken place throughout the history of entertainment itself. However, in the past ten years, after censorship laws had begun to loosen, the media and the government has once again begun to pull tighter on the censorship blindfold, covering...
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...some form of censorship over the conduct and opinions of its members… Good morning teachers and students. Censorship by the government infringes upon the rights of the individual and inhibits freedom of expression. Now, censorship is a broadly used term so what exactly IS censorship? Well, censorship is defined by the Australian Macquarie Dictionary as ‘the actions of a censor – that is, an official who examines books, plays, news reports, films, radio programs (and more recently the internet), for the purpose of suppressing parts deemed objectionable on moral, political, military or other grounds’. Censorship has been around since the beginning of time. It has been used as a tool to control what others have access to. In Australia today, we are supposedly guaranteed the rights of freedom of speech and freedom of the press by our constitution. Yet censorship still exists. We are told censorship is necessary, but at what cost? National security and public interest, are these valid reasons? Why must the government decide what is best for me to read or watch in a cinema or in the privacy of my own home? Sure, we must protect our youth, but that is a parent's responsibility, not the government's. I can understand censorship based upon national security; we can't go around selling all of our secrets without a major threat to our government and our way of life. Censorship is a way of controlling the population. This is exactly why we have laws that forbid random censorship. Some censorship...
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...Censorship Hinders Education in Schools Censorship is a negative influence on schools and education in general. Censorship is the forbidding, blocking, limiting, or obstructing access to information for whatever reason. When it is introduced into the school education system it comes with some flaws and drawbacks not intended by the original effect by which safety is the biggest concern. When teachers assign research on a certain controversial or unsafe topic, it is not allowed to be surfed on the school grounds due to internet filters or lack of books concerning them how are the students expected to complete the assignment let alone learn with that big barrier? There is also the problem with that it will actually encourage the curiosity of...
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...Courtney 24 March 2010 Art censorship and obscenity People in the United States of America are allowed to express themselves in many ways. One of these ways of expressing yourself is through art. Although we have this freedom, it is not completely accepted or viewed as right. What makes the many different forms or art acceptable or unacceptable with censorship? Why should creativity and artistic abilities be censored from other people or artists? “According to Plato, ‘because art has the power to intensify and not just purge emotions, a “dramatic censor” must control the content and form of all artistic expression’” (Hoffman). There are some people who just cannot accept or understand certain pieces of art, which leads them to find them inappropriate and misleading. Just because these people cannot handle certain works of art does not mean that the work should be hidden. Imagine painting a watercolor picture, which is very hard to work with, and working on it for months upon months. You strive to get it finished and once you do you feel very proud of what has been accomplished. Naturally, you would want to put your hard work on display to show it off to whoever you please. But right when you get the chance to do that, the watercolor that you painted for weeks and weeks is taken away from you by Nazi’s and banned from ever being seen. In 1940, this is exactly what happened to German painter, print maker, and watercolorist Emil Nolde. People come to the United States to...
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...Censorship, a Problem Solver Practicing censorship is the safest way to let kids do what they want to do. Censorship filters horrible things on the television, internet browsers, phones, social media, and etc. In the book Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury shows how censorship can be effective to a society. In Fahrenheit 451 Montag turns his back on his society and follows what he thinks is right. Our nation needs censorship. Censorship helps end racism, prevents military corruption, and protects kids. Racism is a worldwide issue that someone needs to put an end to. “This is great literature.But there (are so many) racial slurs in there and offensive wording that you can’t get past that,” the parent,said. The quote is a parent complaining about how the books To Kill a...
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