Censorship in China in Comparison to the United States
Censorship is described an act in which the government monitor, bans, or restricts information from the media and public. The purpose of censorship is to protect national security and help the government control what goes on in society. According to a report, in totalitarian countries, there were 66 journalists killed, 1044 journalists arrested, 199 bloggers and netizens arrested and 62 bloggers and netizens physically attacked for expressing their freedoms online in 2011 (Reporters without borders, 2011). These rates seem to increase as time progresses. Censorship is used in our daily lives in media, social networks, and other communication sources. Many countries uses a form of censorship including the United States and China. In comparison to the United States, censorship in China such as the restrictions of information from the public in media and schools are more strict and has a stronger effect on the people’s development, education, and communication.
Censorship in China dates back in ancient times during its dynasty age. Beginning during the second century BC, books that the government had disapproved of was burned and destroyed (Yutang 167). During the Manchu Dynasty, there were many famous cases of literary inquisitions and burning of books, and persecution of authors (Yutang 168). For example, during Emperor Ch'ienlung’s ruling as he was collecting the literary Ssek'u Ch'uanshu, he scanned and examined the entire country for anti-Manchu literature and listed about two thousand books to be partially or entirely destroyed (Yutang 170). Another example was in 213 B.C, when Minister Li Si and Emperor Qin Shi Huang of China made an order to destroy all history and phi...
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...cation in China is also impacted by its strict censorship. In China, the government restricts information given and taught in schools. For example, on January 11, 2011, China banned the Bayesian statistics textbook written by Andrew Gelman (Doctorow, 2011). The book was believed to contain examples of election polls and one being on testing for election fraud. China also monitors, filters, and restricts information in the internet. Chine had made an agreement with search engine companies such as, Google and Yahoo to ensure that they block access to sites such like BBC and Voice of America (Sheets, “Internet Edu. And Censorship”). Along with blocking and restricting information on the internet, school textbooks are often altered. One Chinese textbook claims that the main reason for the victory of World War II is because of the Chinese Communist Party (French, 2004).
Censorship has been used all throughout history, mainly to prevent the spread of a way of life different than what is accepted. “One of the earliest acts of state-sponsored censorship conducted for the “supposed” common good of the people came in 399 B.C. with the execution of Socrates” (randomhistory.com). The reason for his execution was corruption of the young, but really he was only inspiring a new way of thinking. His teaching drew the youth of Athens away from the traditional Greek culture. This angered the Athenian government and made them fear a revolt. To prevent (censor) his teachings from spreading they sentenced to death.
Censorship can be traced back as early as 399 BCE. it originated in Rome. When Socrates was executed because the Roman people believed his teachings were impious. Even though he didn't have any writings the government wanted to censor his teachings because they were afraid of the effects his ideas had on the children (E.L. p.1). There are many stories on how The Great Library of Alexandria was des...
Censorship has been a big part of the world’s history and especially America’s history. One of the most quoted amendments to the United States constitution is the first amendment; “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ...” This amendment guaranteeing free speech, press, and religion is still heavily debated and contested today. Censorship, as a challenge to free speech and press has been allowed many times and has been heavily debated itself. Many people censor for many different reasons and in many different forms. Censorship itself is not always a bad thing and has in some cases been used for protection of the general population.
Censorship by definition is the suppression of speech or removal of communicative material which may be considered objectionable or repulsive. Censorship is nothing new and its effects are constantly felt throughout society. Many societies use censorship to protect the established moral and social order. Book censorship in western cultures can be traced to the earliest years of Christianity, when the church began to suppress opposing views as unorthodox. In ancient times, before the printing press and the mass production of literature, book burning was an effective form of censorship. This process guaranteed that no one would ever read them. Although book burning was very efficient it is now used as more of a gesture of protest to shock people rather than a real method of destroying a book. In modern times, censorship refers to the examination of media including books, periodicals, plays, motion pictures, television shows and radio programs for the purpose of altering or suppressing parts thought to be offensive. Today’s censorship occurs when certain people succeed in imposing their personal or moral values on others. Censorship deals mainly with the first amendment constitutional. “The law requires that if a book is to be removed, an inquiry must be made as to the motivation and intention of the party calling for its removal. If the party’s intention is to deny students access to ideas with which the party disagrees, it is a violation of the First Amendment” [First Amendment Center]. Though the First Amendment bars government authorities from prohibiting the free exercise, abridging the freedom of speech or practicing religious censorship in the United States, individuals have successfully pushed to remove books from public and ...
Censorship, defined as the act of destroying, suppressing or withholding information otherwise intended for the public, is detrimental to the community in a number of ways and has no place in a democratic society. Firstly it is detrimental to the progression of social ethics, morals and ideals and limits diversity in society while prolonging ignorance. Secondly it is a breach of freedom of expression, free speech and the free press. It will be demonstrated in this essay that censorship does happen in Australia, that it is not beneficial to society, and that it should be replaced with a system of management where members of the public will always have a choice as to whether or not they can view material intended for the public.
The authors of these passages have very different ideas about censorship. After evaluation I will determine which passage states a stronger argument. I believe that Passage 1 provides a stronger argument over Passage 2.
Censorship in School Libraries The most debatable and controversial form of censorship today is the banning of books in school libraries. Banning books that educate students is wrong and selfish. Censorship of books in school libraries is neither uncommon nor an issue of the past. Books with artistic and cultural worth are still challenged constantly by those who want to control what others read. The roots of bigotry and illiteracy that fuel efforts to censor books and free expression are unacceptable and unconditional.
China is a communist country, whose citizens faced many difficult situations while trying to fight for their human rights. According to the “Freedom Rankings” from the database CountryWatch China is not a free country. Specifically the Political Rights and Civil Liberties are in their maximum numbers; this means that these rights are confiscated from the people. Therefore freedoms of press, expression, speech, religion, and movement are all severely limited in China. The government has also kept a close watch on art in China; Chinese art went through many different stages starting from the year 1842. But the massacre of Tiananmen Square in the year 1989 was a turning point in the political life of China and on the country's art. Until the year 1992 art in china was underground, but it kept expanding. As a result of that some Chinese artists started to do art works that rebel against their government and express their feelings towards China. One of these artist is the famous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei who expressed in each piece of art he did, his feelings that China should let its people break away from the rotten traditional, in order to express their thoughts freely.
Throughout the development of new nations within the last two centuries, there have been various issues raised and fought over regarding the ruling of the nations themselves and the nation’s peoples. These issues range anywhere from form of government; whether a nation should be a tyranny, monarchy, or a democracy; to how much freedom the nation’s citizens should have. By and large one of the most important topics in recent politics is the idea of media censorship, anywhere from the question of first amendment rights in the United States to the extremely dystopian society of North Korea, where incredibly censored and doctored information dominates social life - and anything positive is re-written to be caused by their ‘dear leader’, whoever the current monarch may be.
Censorship is detrimental to society. People can’t learn from their mistakes if we hide them. People can’t decide the best option if we say there are no options. People can’t understand each other if they don’t know what anyone is thinking. People can’t mature when they are “protected” from mean words. People can’t be themselves when they are being censored.
Censorship has been used by governments and influential groups throughout history as a tool for political and economic gain since ancient times. The Romans thought censorship was necessary to shape the morals of society to match up with government ideals. During the 1500's the Catholic Church banned certain texts that conflicted with the established religion from being read. In these times the idea of censorship was viewed differently that it is today. With powerful organizations limiting information it was often impossible for an average person to obtain literature or hear ideas that vary from state ideals, they probably didn't even know that their information was being censored. We live in a different age today, information is more readily available and censorship is often looked at as a negative practice that limits freedoms. That said, it still exists today and can be viewed as an obstacle to true democracy.
Xu, Beina. "Media Censorship in China." Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, 12 Feb. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
Censorship allows governments more control of society than they already have, slowly progressing governments utilizing censorship to a dictatorship. Often times, this censorship can lead to immense rebellions. A good example of this is in China, where Google has been censored by a provider called The Great Firewall of China, which censors information that could be viewed as defamatory or insulting to Chinese government and culture. According to the article “Google turns off China censorship warning” as published by BBC News Technology, “Google has had a rocky relationship with the Chinese authorities since January 2010, when the company said it may shut down Chinese operations due to a ‘sophisticated and targeted’ cyber attack. Google said at the time that it was no longer willing to censor the Google search engine”. Many journalists have also taken a look at Egypt, which also utilizes censorship. According to “Egyptian authorities step up censorship” as published by the Committee to Protect Journalists website, the new military-run Egyptian government is censoring news outlets and keep journalists, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates. “Egyptia...
Censorship affects our society in many different ways, it affects the music we listen to, the movies we watch, the books we read, and many other aspects of our everyday lives. Even though many might argue that censorship doesn't really have a place in a society that emphases freedom of speech and the freedom to express oneself, but censorship is an essential and needed part of our growing society, it's needed in the television industry, the Internet, and the music industry. Censorship helps to make our world a better place because it creates a better environment for us to live in.
Interests: China’s leaders desire to improve their nation’s economy while preserving political stability. They want to censor political discussions to prevent “westernization” of China,