Uses and Abuses of Censorship The uses and abuses of censorship in developed and developing countries have been under discussion for quite a long time. Although societies claim for freedom of thought and expression, which are indispensable to live peacefully, censorship is sometimes necessary, due to the fact tha its abuse may badly influence the behaviour of a society and may also result in anarchism. There are different kinds of censorship. The most common ones are: governmental, press and television censorship. The first one is connected with the respect and consideration people should live with.
Censorship, or what I like to call “controlled media”, is the control of ideas and content in our world. For as long as people have discovered that human beings have free will, there has been a way to regulate, govern and block the expression of its uses. There are many types of censorship when it comes to military, religion, political, public media or for just morale reasons. There have naturally been debates on whether censorship has truly been a restraint of expression, imposed to protect people from themselves and to others, or just, for the most part, futile in this day and age. I believe these are all valid reasons for why censorship has its pros and cons, but nonetheless is rather pointless.
I will be writing about how America’s government is not the only one in the world using censorship to prevent its people from hearing and knowing the truth. China and several other countries are doing the exact same thing. It is mandated by China’s Communist government that all types of media be censored before being released to the people. China’s government is is known for blocking internet access and using censorship to keep order. I’m going to write about the different methods China’s government uses to prevent its people from knowing what is really happening.
In the United States, many people value this freedom of information above all else, however, in other nations around the world, citizens are not allowed this liberty. For example, the governments of China and Iran continue to censor media released in their countries, but it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to control what information is being distributed, particularly on the internet. Blogs and social networking online, as well as radio and television broadcasting, have been major factors in political issues in recent years. The United States has a longstanding tradition of allowing the public access to nearly any informations it wants.When the government is found out to be hiding important intelligence, it is viewed as a scandal that must be righted by truth-seeking journalists. The Pew Research Center reports that “broad majorities continue to say that the press acts as a watchdog by preventing political leaders from doing things that should not be done, a view that is as widely held today as at any point over the past three decades”.
The public has made this an issue that the government and media must deal with in order to make both the broadcasters and the general public happy. It has been proven that violence on television, as well as sex and obscene language has an ill effect on society and it is the governments job to do something about it. Through the use of technology, great advances have been made, but there is still a lot to be done. Devices such as the V-chip and the rating system are small steps in a large gray area of politics. There has to be a "middle of the road" on which everyone can agree, but the government is responsible for laying the groundwork for compromise.
The media is a great tool for information, but people should not give nearly all of their faith in them. The media evolved from an information channel to an entertainment source. Nearly every single media is revised by some high power such as the government. Most small children are becoming worse due to the influence of the media. Over the years, media has become more manipulative toward their viewers, trying to impose a one sided story in which they only want the people to listen to.
It's only natural that human beings search for some way to make sense of such horrible information, to organize it so it becomes understandable, to find someone to blame. With Princess Diana, that someone is the press.” The harsh effects of the Paparazzi can be prevented in many ways. The government can take on one form of prevention. If the government came up with laws like the “Communications Act of 1934” or “it could begin with something as basic as the White House press pass. A reporter literally cannot get in the gate without one.” If they passed laws like these that required the press to have some sort of “pass” or permit to take pictures of celebrity’s and sell them then it would cut back on their harsh effects.
Censorship Splits Secrets, cover-ups, lies and holding back are all forms of what society calls censorship. There are many forms of censorship, including public, private and self, that exist for different reasons but only the brave examine those reasons. Murrow, Wu, Lovett and Baughman closely inspect these different types and give their opinions on the subject. What they say is all similar. Censorship has a negative impact and is dangerous to society.
Censorship has a great deal to do with drugs, societal values, or violence. But people also need to know the difference between right and wrong, and knowing how to behave correctly is what affects society. Seeing someone shoot someone else on television is not going to make me go out and kill someone. But, being brought up thinking that the only way to get ahead in life is to steal or kill people then a person may do those types of things, and that is media influence. There are certain key elements in the media that help maintain the entertainment alive and add to the excitement to movies and other programs.
The government of China is using surveillance as a method to create total dominance over their citizens and the society. The government may state that they are using this surveillance for security purposes, but the true purpose is to suppress the individuality and the creativity of the citizen. One of the major goals of the government in these dystopian societies is to suppress any dissenting political or religious beliefs. Another major goal of these governments is to make sure that the citizens do not rebel against the government, and in turn the citizens are unaware of what their governments are doing. Surveillance is one of the greatest methods used by governments throughout the world to create dominance over their citizens.