Is Censorship Wrong

Are all forms of censorship are wrong?

The aim of this research is to analyse the role of censorship in the modern world and answer the question whether or not are all forms of censorship wrong. Henry Reichmann (Censorship and selection: issues and answers for schools) defines censorship as “(…) the removal, suppresion, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic, or educational materials- of ideas, images, and information –on the grounds that these are morally or otherwise objectionable in light of standards applied by the censor” (Reichmann: XXX). The issue of censorship has been widely discussed over the past years. Whether or not the media should be subject to censorship is a bone of contention among politicians but even ordinary
(Philip Steele, Censorship). It cannot be denied that censorship is often used in totalitarian countries as a means of banning its citizens from inconvenient truths. Such was also the case during the Bejing 2008 Olympic Games when certain western websites could not be accessed from China. Indeed, censorship is often misused. However, before jumping to the conclusion that all forms of censorship are wrong one should consider a variety of daily life situations when the control exerted by the authorities over the mass media turns out to be beneficial. Censorship, however, is not always carried out by dictators and governments obsessed with power. In many cases, it is used for the benefit of people. Article 20 of the United Nations’ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights says that “any advocacy of national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence must be prohibited”. The abovementioned proclamation consists a great example of how censorship may be used in just cause.Banning foul language from tv shows, controlling children’ access to pornography by restricting it’s broadcasting time, disallowance of the images of extreme violence in the press are the reasons for considering censorship to be a boon to society as
It should not come as a surprise that the Chinese government did not refrain from infringing human rights even during the 2008 Olympic Games which took place in the capital of China – Bejing. Human Rights Watch reported that part of the country’s preparation to the Olympiad consisted of ensuring that thousands of webpages became blocked to the citizens as well as tourists. “(…) [C]overage of everything from natural disasters to corruption scandals that might embarrass the National Communist Party (…) ” was banned. People who tried to look up information about the “(…)1989 Tiananmen Massacre, (…) and content perceived as sympathetic to ‘separatist’ elements in Tibet, Xinjang,and Taiwan (…)” were also doomed to fail. As a result, visitors to China were prevented from accessing websites such as Flickr or Wikipedia as well as an estimated of 18,000 individual blogs and websites (HWR:2008). TRANSITION