CENSORSHIP: Still Alive Worldwide!

Censorship is a word of many meanings. In its broadest sense it refers to the suppression of information, ideas, or artistic expression by anyone, whether it be government officials, church authorities, private pressure groups, speakers, writers, or artists themselves. It may take place at any point in time, whether before an utterance occurs, prior to its widespread circulation, or by punishment of communicators after dissemination of their messages, so as to deter others from like expression. In its narrower and more legalistic sense, censorship means only the prevention by official government action of the circulation of messages already produced.

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Thus writers who "censor" themselves before putting words on paper for fear of failing to sell their work, are not engaging in censorship in this narrower sense, nor are those who boycott sponsors of disliked television shows. Yet all of these restraints have the effect of limiting the diversity that would otherwise be available in the marketplace of ideas; and so may be considered censorship in its broadest sense.

There are almost as many justifications offered for the suppression of communication as there are would-be censors, but the root of the motivation is always the same. It is a fear that the expression, if not curtailed, will do harm to individuals in the expressers audience or to society as a whole. Thus so-called obscene material is attacked because it is feared that it will corrupt personal morality and lead to deviant sexual acts.

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School textbooks and library materials are sought to be purged by groups who fear that they may inculcate subversive values in children. Information concerning national security is controlled by government, with particular severity in wartime; for fear that its revelation may aid an enemy. In the judicial system, pretrial publicity about a crime may jeopardize a fair trial. Publication of personal information by police (such as the names of rape victims) or by the press (such as one's sexual preferences) may seriously intrude on one's right to privacy. The fear of such consequences, real or imagined, is what drives the censorial impulse.

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Censorship has been practiced in both the narrower and the broader senses on every continent. It has been practiced since the beginning of organized cultures. Those societies which have been most confident in their principles and confident of the loyalty of their members have allowed the greatest freedom from censorship, simply because they have been the least fearful of the consequences of dissent. In societies whose values have not been fully accepted by their people or whose leadership rests on shaky foundations, the heaviest hand of censorship has fallen.

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The relative prevalence of censorship is one of the features that has most distinguished autocratic from democratic societies and is most obvious in the censorship practiced today in nations such as Albania, Iran, Korea Cuba, China, and many other non-democratic nations. Nevertheless, even in the freest of nations, including the United States, some forms of censorship exist. For a documented, detailed description of worldwide censorships by date; geographic location; type of censorship; and reason for censorship, visit The File Room's website at: http://www.thefileroom.org/documents/CategoryHomePage.html . Civilized societies, organized centuries ago, still have not evolved enough to trust the intellect of its individual members. Yes, Censorship is still alive worldwide!

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Other Links:

The File Room

http://www.thefileroom.org/documents/CategoryHomePage.html

The American Library Association

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/basics/intellectual.htm#ifpoint3

Vandergrift University

http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kvander/censorship.html

Worldwide Censorship

http://www.indexonline.org/