Censorship and Common People

Today there is much controversy over whether there should or shouldn’t be censorship of the media. Censorship should not be imposed on citizens by the government or other agencies; adults have a right to view or listen to what they choose. Additionally, if children’s media is censored, parents are the ones to monitor and regulate it. Parents should monitor children’s viewing of television and also what they hear on the radio, CD’s, and tapes.
Censorship includes the examination and blocking of books, periodicals, plays, films, television and radio programs, news reports, and other communication media that is shown to, or available, to the public. Media censorship is sometimes put into place because content is immoral or obscene, heretical or blasphemous, seditious or treasonable, or injurious to the national security. It supposedly is used for the protection of the family, the church, and the state. Additionally some religious groups, opposed to the violence shown in different types of media, say censorship works. However, still more that believe in civil rights believe that it is an unnecessary violation of the right to freedom of speech for all humans.

If our society decides to have censorship, we compromise our freedom of speech and are left with the chore of deciding where to draw the illusive and unstable line between what should be censored and what should not. When the issue of censorship needs to be addressed question arise such as “Who will enforce it?” and “Who will decide what is ‘right’?” Ironically, the people who censor materials to protect the common people do not have the common persons best interest in mind. It is the people in power who censor to protect the disempowered and impose the views of a small percentage of society on the masses. Censorship will never reduce oppression and domination, but add to the problem, as people are left inane and ignorant. Censorship will never give people comfort and security for it is often hypocritical and