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Internet Censorship
A somewhat famous politician once said, "Censorship, like charity, should begin at home: but unlike charity, it should end there" (Luce). The 21st century is a lot like a technological renaissance in the fact that there is so much creativity, so much dissent, and so many people unsure of how to respond to the new interconnectability. Whether it is a simple image, or an entire program, the internet has made life much more simple, and that much more difficult to regulate. Unlike physical interaction, the internet allows users to connect to one another across the globe, sharing practically everything.
While this is seen as a net positive by the consuming masses, especially people in the United States, in other countries, such as Russia and China, politicians see it as a threat to their positions. Instead of taking measures to improve themselves, most of the politicians in this position take to the offensive and have everything removed. This causes a schism, not only between the creator and the governing body, but also with the masses aware that the objectionable material has been removed. This ham-fisted attempt at damage control not only causes doubts in the people that hear about it, but also affirms the truth of whatever subject the creator has brought to light. Censorship stifles creativity of the individual and the citizens in the following regions; Europe, the United States, and China.
Europe has always maintained a hit and miss attitude towards censorship. One of the most famous incidents in European culture is the 399 BC execution of Socrates for “corrupting the youth”. Another notable example is the Nazi German burning of “un-German” books in 1933 across Austria and Germany (Ritchie). The book b...
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...article had suggested a law-based approach to governance in China. Tuo Zhen, Chinese propaganda chief, instead edited the article on the front page, praised the Communist Party of China, removed references to reform, and oddly contained factual errors about an ancient Chinese ruler (Montlake).
In conclusion, the internet is an impressive architecture, capable of allowing information, art, and ideas to be exchanged across the world at a breakneck pace never before seen in history. Censorship stifles that creativity and causes nothing but issues on both sides of the censorship wall. Whether it be from Europe and their blocking of supposed material, to the United States attempted measures, to Chinas questionable success in blocking unwanted material, none of the censorship seems to have any sort of benefit, only driving a divide between government and its citizens.
"A Global History of Censorship." Guarding Public Morality: A Global History of Censorship. N p.g., 20 Mar. 2010. Web. 03 Nov. 2013.
Witherbee, Amy and Cushman, C. Ames. "Counterpoint: Sometimes Censorship is Necessary." 2011. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 21 March 2012.
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.
For years, the topic of censorship has a been highly controversial issue. Over the centuries, many people have fought and died to gain the freedom of speech and ideas. The impression that creative ideas and important information should be hidden from society and controlled by the government, is a discordant one. Censorship is the act of controlling the freedom of speech, ideas, and information. Unsuprisingly, people in the nineteenth or the twentieth century had no problem with the controversial issue of censorship. A century ago, technology just started to make itself known in the world. People had the radio, the television, and the typewriter. Although the internet was invented, it was hardly used as frequently as individuals, in modern times,
What reasons or needs would there be to censor the internet? As with written or oral language, all of its information is created in fact by a human, which can lead towards being corrupted, destructive or mis-interupted by another. Since the internet is a world wide access of information that is available by all nations having the resources for it, rules and laws in one country are not the same in another. Another commonly known use of the internet is for commerce. It allows a person to sell goods from any country to another. This in return could be things such as illegal weapons, plants, and even pictorial art, to that neighboring or distant country or nation that might be prohibited...
Thesis: Although some people believe that censorship is adequate to select what things does the society will be good and can live around it while others believe that there should be no censorship because it takes away your right of expression of freedom.
The Internet distributes more information than any other medium in the world. There are several problems that have emerged along with the Internet, “As soon as the public began to use the Internet, people began to express concern about its use” (Clark 1). Some groups feel that the World Wide Web is dangerous because of it’s open accessibility, whereas other groups see that the Internet is something that can be used to share knowledge globally. The Internet should not be censored because censorship would restrict Americans’ first amendment rights; regulations have been tried and have failed in the past, and there are better methods of education and protection than censorship.
Internet is a powerful tool that allows users to collaborate and interact with others all over the world conveniently and relatively safely. It has allowed education and trade to be accessed easily and quickly, but all these benefits do not come without very taxing costs. This is especially true when dealing with the likes of the Internet. Countries in the European Union and Asia have realized this and have taken action against the threat of net neutrality to protect their citizens, even at the cost of online privacy. Internet censorship is required to protect us from our opinions and vices. Every country should adopt Internet censorship and regulation since it improves society by reducing pornography, racism/prejudice, and online identity theft.
that some of the material that is on the net needs to be filtered and regulated. The word censorship is defined as examining any material and prohibiting what is objectionable, according to Webster’s II dictionary. Censoring the internet is a violation of the first ammendment rights of every citizen in the United States. There are two general truths that some people feel are attitudes towards censoring the internet. The first is that very few people admit to favoring it. The second is that no matter who you are, in a matter of minutes spent surfing the net almost anyone can find something that they find to be offensive. In fact, some web surfers feel that the truly inappropriate things are inspired by one’s own religion. For example, the Nurenberg Files website showed pictures of mangled fetuses with the photograph, name, and address of some abortion clinic doctors.
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.
Tackling censorship is much more important than it appears to be at the surface; taking down censorship would help preserve the expression of thought. It would help preserve the right to listen to the unaltered forms of everything. Most importantly, it would help preserve the rapidly weakening basic right of speech. Censorship has always altered the lives of many people, whether they know it or not. People are constantly exposed to the censored version of entertainment.
Censorship as defined by Wikipedia is the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by a government, media outlet or other controlling body. This context in itself is not acceptable as we have no rights to limit a person’s freedom of speech as that is the basic right we have as humans. However, censorship is a step taken by relevant authorities in order to maintain national security and stability, limit actions that may insight disregard for the law be it violence or causing harm to others and prevent the corruption of children. The first point that is going to be pointed out in this essay is regarding national security and stability. It is a common practice by governments aro...
Censorship is blocking or hiding something that is considered unacceptable to the public eye or a group of a certain age. In looking at the effects of censorship on society, it is apparent that it can both be beneficial and harmful. Censorship is seen to be beneficial through preventing dangerous people from viewing government documents and preventing children from viewing inappropriate content. Censorship can be harmful when it comes to taking away rights declared in the Constitution and setting unequal standards for men and women. These examples show how effects censorship has on society can be both good and bad. Looking at facts and credible opinions is a way to truly see how censorship has negative and positive effects.
The Internet is an extremely educational and communicative tool. Everyone can access a tremendous amount of information and connect with people on the other end of the planet; it is capable of doing everything. Nowadays, the society is facing a variety of challenges and controversies which are mostly related to religion, morality, the economic crisis, etc., and the most talked-about issue in today’s world is “Internet censorship”. Although the Internet is very useful, many people are suggesting the idea of censoring the Internet; however, the government should not censor the Internet because a free and open Internet usage has many positive impacts on people’s lives.