Does Censorship Help or Harm a Country’s Citizens?
Lucas J. Fong
AP Seminar/2
Mrs. Ohmart

Censorship
Censorship is used to prohibit “unacceptable” information brought to us on any media platform, however, what it isn’t supposed to censor is the truth. Government controlled censorship is ultimately harmful to a country’s citizens. So why do some countries do it more than others? Taking a look at censorship in China, Germany, and South Africa will provide more insight to the issue. A nation’s government should not have the right to decide what important information can be shown and what important information can’t. One thing is clear though, it is that important current events, historic events, and some necessary information should be accessible to the general public in order to help the country.
In South Africa, “Interior Minister Theophilus Ebenhaezar Dönges, son of a Dutch Reformed clergyman, [by] law, [can] ban anything he considers "indecent, obscene or… objectionable," and no court can overrule him.” (Times Magazine, 1951) Although this is source is old it is still alive today just with different names. The Interior Minister can and does take full advantage of this law, as South Africa is one of many African countries that has censorship issues, and for obvious reasons. The Interior Minister uses this law to protect and restrict important data from the public. This results in the harm of South Africa as they remain uninformed and uneducated about certain things they should know.
Moving to China, you find a different reaction to censorship. For starters, China is hands down one of the most censored country in the world especially in its internet media platform. Additionally, China’s internet is so restricted that a term called the “Great Firewall of China” (Wikipedia, 2015) has been put in to place and is commonly used. Here’s the thing, shortly after a 1999 media tour of China, President Clinton himself said that “[China would eventually come around to internet freedom], and [that] staying away from it would be like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall, impossible.” Well here we are 16 years later and “…it looks like the Jell-O has been nailed to the wall.” (Lu Stout, 2015) A big reason why most of the world thought that China would come around to the idea of extensive internet usage is because of the economic powerhouse and the technological advancers they are. Despite the many censored websites in China according to Lokman Tsui, associate professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and former head of free expression at Google Asia-Pacific, says that “most Chinese are happy with the status quo.” (Lu Stout, 2015) So China’s governmental censorship is actually helping the citizen’s right? Not quite. Those surveyed were those who had consistent access to the Internet, they didn’t factor in the millions of people suffering in poverish areas of the country, they didn’t ask them if internet accessibility would be helpful to them, they didn’t ask if they feel they have the right to more information, they didn’t ask, so it doesn’t alter any of the results; it doesn’t change anything for those suffering so it didn’t help.
In Germany, censorship is not an issue especially coming from a historical point of view. One event in particular in World War II is surprisingly not censored in German education, the Holocaust. According to an anonymous website contributor “[they] learn about this period at least three times.” (Quora Contributor, 2014) The German population is almost in unanimous agreement that what was done back then was horrible beyond words. This message came across because the German government decided that they would take ownership of it and do all they can to express their disdain for previous historical actions. This helps their citizens because they get insight on that event and react accordingly to the actions that took place rather than just tip toeing around the obvious.
Censorship is okay when it comes to stuff like nudity and various profanity induced curse words, but when it comes to serious real world issues and when censorship gets in the way of a country’s progress that’s when things need to be changed. Censorship is justified; I just believe that you shouldn’t have the right to censor the truth.

Bibliography
The Press: Censorship in South Africa. (1951, November 12). Retrieved October 30, 2015.

Great Firewall. (2015, October 15). Retrieved October 30, 2015.

Lu Stout, K. (2015, March 25). China's Great Firewall and Internet censorship - CNN.com.
Retrieved October 30, 2015.

Top 5 of the Most Censored Countries in the World. (2008, October 21). Retrieved October 30, 2015.

How Do German Children Learn About the Holocaust? (2014, February 6). Retrieved October 30, 2015.