Studies in Contemporary Literature: Free Speech

Censorship is the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined as determined by the government, media outlet, or other controlling bodies (Wikipedia, 1). This can be done by governments and private organizations or by individuals who engage in self-censorship which is the act of censoring or classifying one’s own work like blog, books, films, or other means of expression, out of the fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities of others, without overt pressure from any specific party or institution of authority. Censorship occurs in a variety of different contexts including speech, books, music, films, and other arts, the press, radio, television, and the internet for a variety of reasons including national security, to control obscenity, child pornography, and hate speech, to protect children, to promote or restrict political views or religious views, and to prevent libel and slander. It may or may not be legal. Many countries provide strong protections against censorship by law, but none of these protections are absolute and it is frequently necessary to balance conflicting rights in order to determine what can and cannot be censored. Although censorship is a form of protection from information that is believed to be inappropriate or obscene, it is not justifiable because it violate our freedom of expression and speech, induces ignorance, and inhibits our free society.

Censorship is not justifiable because it violates our freedom of expression and speech. Since censorship was first drafted in 1776, the United States constitution has constantly been scrutinized and amended to adhere to changes in society. It has ev...

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...ance is an inevitable consequence of all censorship. Censorship inhibits our free society because it has a daily negative impact on our present day society, as news articles, television shows; radio broadcasts, music, and other content for public viewing are affected and altering such products unjustifiably changes the meaning that the creators of those products originally intended, thus limiting the free society. Although there may be negative consequences to taking away censorship, it is inevitable to be faced with inappropriate or obscene material that censorship might block, especially when living in a country that advocates freedom of expression through free speech. And that we must protect our youth as much as possible, but we must also accept the fact that too much censorship could lead to an ignorant population. That is how censorship is not justifiable.