Arguments Against Internet Censorship

Censorship is the act of filtering what an audience of something hears and sees. This is an effective method for mothers to protect their children from being exposed to things they do not fully understand, however it can be harmful once it is put into the hands of the government, because it crosses some moral and ethical lines. It violates the people’s right to freedom of expression. It would also make it much simpler to hide information from the people or to give them false information in the form of propaganda. Therefore, censorship is both positive and negative and its power should be left in the hands of parents rather than the government.

In a world of ever evolving technology, it has become increasingly difficult for many leaders to censor and control the flow of information. The development of the Internet throughout the nineties has created a cosmopolitan world in which people from across the earth can communicate and share ideas and information. The development of Internet technology and social media web platforms have led to an increased desire for democracy in many areas of the world; however, some nations have worked to curtail the freedom of information flow by developing complex Internet censorship programs. While Internet censorship is a highly relevant topic in today’s society, it is mainly viewed as a problem in non-democratic countries. While at there is merit to this viewpoint, censorship is a much more universal obstacle than most people realize.

According to “Freedom of Speech” by Gerald Leinwand, Abraham Lincoln once asked, “Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for the liberties of its people, or too weak to maintain its own existence (7)?” This question is particularly appropriate when considering what is perhaps the most sacred of all our Constitutionally guaranteed rights, freedom of expression. Lincoln knew well the potential dangers of expression, having steered the Union through the bitterly divisive Civil War, but he held the Constitution dear enough to protect its promises whenever possible (8).

Freedom of expression is a right given to fuel people’s imaginative minds that are occupied with different thoughts and opinions. Censorship is only an obstacle, preventing people from expressing their inner beliefs by replacing it with fake ones. Censorship actively prohibits and suppresses people’s opinions to speak up in society freely and openly. It restricts the common adult or child of any gender from being themselves and fighting for what they believe in. Censoring speech and expression only establish greater problems than the one attempting to be resolved that both prevent people from expressing themselves and cover the ears of those who are willing to listen.

In todayś society we face many objections, as to how things are and how it will effect others. Essentially, we can see censorship and other objections occuring more often throughtout our history. Movies, books, Plays, etc. are currently and continuously being revised and looked over for the reason of censorships that happen throughout the school in thus nation. This comenly is occuring more throughtout schools. As parents, and teachers don´t want to obeject there kids or students to things that ¨need¨ or should be censored; such as bad language, vulgur meanings/saying and more often sex and drugs. Which under many advisments could be a nessesarry thing. Overall I do not agree to the censorship in school to an extent.

Imagine a scenario where Kanye West is in his Los Angeles home with his wife and daughter and the police knock on his door. They arrest him based on exposing the American population to vulgarity, indecency, racist and sexist comments that offend many people. The government does not want America to be subjected to this type of music and turn the American culture into something more bigoted than it already is. However, a situation like this would never occur in the present day American society. That does not mean it could not happen in the future. Many American citizens are promoting censorship to an extreme that it could possibly become a reality. The American citizens claim that censorship is needed to shelter America’s citizens, but

Usually beginning in kindergarten, students are taught how to write. Later in their school years they are taught how to improve their writing skills. In some middle schools and most high schools students are given the opportunity to write for the school’s paper. While writing for the paper students are advised to write about every day topics that relate to the student body. In college, students often write for the school paper with hope of one day becoming a journalist or paid blogger. By the time a student journalist enters college they have most likely experienced some type of censorship. I believe that Student journalist should have all the same rights as a paid journalist has and not be censored on what they can and should not say.

Censorship has evolved over time in America, from TV, books, and even the internet. America has prohibited specific things from citizen’s beliefs. The role that censorship plays in America is taken from personal beliefs, such as voting for certain things to be banned from books, TV, internet, and articles. This allows and denies things that are used for public use, due to personal preferences on things that are appropriate and inappropriate for public users.

Should the government be allowed to go through anyones phone at any time? A main issue in the debate of privacy vs. security is internet censorship. American citizens are currently debating whether the government should be allowed to go through peoples personal devices. Legally, according to the constitution, the government has the right to a search warrant. This means they have to have a legitimate reason for their search, and the court must grant them a warrant. According to the Supreme Court it is against the law for the government to intrude; they cannot show up to houses unannounced (CNN.com). On the other side it is a great resource for the government to have control because it makes life safer. There is not enough police officers to catch all criminals. For example, cameras, the government has set up light cameras to catch drivers from running red lights.(Ron Fridell 24-25) The controversy of privacy of personal devices is crucial because people are debating on if the government should see citizens personal information. While some people believe that censorship is necessary and should be allowed, others believe censorship violates American rights.

As Americans, we pride ourselves on having the ability to say what we want when we want to. This was a right given to us by the First Amendment of the Constitution. The act of censorship creates a barrier between media and freedom of speech. Due to the topic of censorship, many Americans have different opinions on if censorship is a violation of their rights as a citizen of the United States or if it is to preserve the wellbeing of the country. Before the internet became as powerful as it is today, the government reviewed every article, news report, and television show before being released for public viewing to prevent indecencies from occurring in the media. Consequently, as the media continues to flourish, it creates difficulties in the government being able to track everything that is online. Furthermore, the uprising of the internet creates more of a reason for censorship in the media, especially due to the increased use of the internet by children. Americans should include censorship in their everyday lives to a certain extent because of the violence in our country, to provide censorship for children, and to provide positive images.

For as long, as I can remember, censorship has been an issue among society’s free thinkers. There are those that abide by the rules, never thinking twice of the repercussions of actions chosen by commanding authorities. There are those that go with the grain of society’s guidance, yet wonder where the line is drawn in the sand, and where it begins. Then there are those that have witnessed the blinding of society and refuse to have White Out cover the novel that are their opinions and belief. Censorship comes in an extensive array of variations, from speech to educational literature, silencing opinions and facts alike. Different degrees of censorship have been attempted throughout the ages by scholars, civilians, and governments alike. Often

Censorship is defined by Caso as the suppression of speech or any other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive politically incorrect as determined by the government or any other control body (3). Censorship may be justified from the conservative view whereby the free speech can be maltreated where it undermines the customary principles and communal solidity as withheld by a particular community.

Censorship may be protection from inappropriate materials, but it also limits free speech. For the limitation of free speech, it is reasonable why people are emphatically against censorship. It is understood that there is a need to filter some of the materials released in today’s society, but too much is being done by people who have no right meddling with everyone’s rights. Civilization has always been plagued by a never ending battle being fought over what is deemed right and wrong. In today’s culture, censorship oppresses everything in the media. From movies and music to television and even news stories, most of the content viewed today has been filtered one way or another. Restrictions have been in place since early societies have been

Imagine spending hours writing your heart out about how you feel about something. You pour out your heart and as you proof it you get emotional because of how proud you are in your work. You tear up a little and feel your heart tighten up. You’re ready, you submit it online to a blog. A few hours later you get what you been waiting for all day. A notification via email explaining that your story was published. You go to admire your work, as you’re reading it you don’t even recognize it. Everything empowering you said was erased, it says the care minimum about how you feel. Hiding all the truth to your story! This isn’t rare at all. Actually it happens almost every day. Censoring can be defined as reviewing any form of writing and deleting

Some people wonder who came up with the idea of internet censorship. Other people want to know which countries use it. Some ponder over the idea of what really is internet censorship. Internet censorship is controlling what can be viewed, and which sites can be used on the internet. Some things about internet censorship are countries that use it, and who started the idea of it.