Modern Censorship
As
Wikipedia states, censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or
other information, on the basis that such material is considered objectionable,
harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient." The history of censorship
goes back to the ancient Greece, where Socrates’ teaching where being censored
by Greek state. In the end, he was sentenced to death for disagreeing with
Athenian authorities.
When we think about
censorship now, it is something we consider as terrible procedure of a past. In
the US or in Poland censorship is contrary to the Constitution. The first
country to abolish it was Sweden in 1766.
But are the days of
censoring media are really gone? Is free speech free now? When you think about
journalism now it is hard to assume that it can be affected by the government
as the Internet will always uncover the lies spread by them. The communication services
which came with world wide web are powerful force in catching misinformation
around the world.
The thing is, new
technology forced people with great power to find new, more innovative and
subtle ways to alter the reality to the state which is most convenient for
them. One of the most extreme examples
of censorship in countries with fast growing internet usage is Venezuela.
Government there has few ways of dealing with free speech and free media. The
least brutal is buying independent media companies by phantom buyers and taking
over the influence on workers there. But this is not enough as it can’t silence
every journalist there. So the next step is eavesdropping on incommodious
journalists’ private conversations and dragging them to court so they all end
up in prison. Hungary, which is developed country and member of European Union,
has also some methods to control the news media. Viktor Orban, Hungary’s PM,
puts pressure on news media using economical factors like taxes, fines or
licences. It makes that only journalists and media who follows the ruling party
agenda will public content without repercussions.
Then we also have China
where global internet is behind ‘Great Firewall’ and citizens have their own
version of it which has only government approved sites. Chinese constitute 20%
of all internet users so this affects a lot of people. You may think that this
is separate case which does not happen in the rest of the world and you would
be very wrong. Recently, this year, Russia government has started beta-testing
their own version of internet which would work exactly as it’s Chinese
archetype. It’s scary to think which country will be next to control what their
citizen could read and watch.
There is very little what
can one person do to prevent this kind of dealings, especially if they happen
in another country. In democratic world it is crucial to stop electing people
capable of implementing own regime in public news media. No curbing free speech
is good, even if most people doesn’t agree with broadcasted ideas.
Sources:
Questions:
1.
What do you think about censorship in modern world? If
it happens, can you give some examples?
2.
Do you think some form of censorship is always needed?
3.
What else can you do to prevent censorship in your
country?
Comments
Censorship in a given country largely depends on the state system. Currently, there is a lack of censorship and there is freedom of speech in many countries. However, freedom of speech and lack of censorship exist as long as the views of the interlocutor agree with ours. I believe that censorship is negligible in the European Union today. The media can present any content, as long as they do not violate Art. 23 of the Civil Code.
There are countries where censorship exists, e.g. in Thailand, you can even get the death penalty for insulting the king. There is also a penalty in Turkey for insulting power. The punishment is a bit milder - deprivation of liberty.
2. Do you think some form of censorship is always needed?
I do not consider censorship imposed by the authorities as a necessity. The only censorship that should occur is, for example, censorship of vulgar words on the radio or censorship of films for adults before 23 on public television. Limiting a word simply limits people's development.
3. What else can you do to prevent censorship in your country?
The media play the main role in banning censorship in the country. Thanks to their freedom, we can express all the information. To prevent censorship in our country, we simply need to make wise decisions during the elections. I also consider acting in independent media to prevent censorship in my country.
2. In my opnion censorship should be only for children to protect them, like censorship of vulgar words or things that they should not see or hear. Adults should not have any kind of censorship at all.
3. I think the media in my coutry should be impartial and describe reality as they see it, not under pressure from governments.
2. No – in my opinion everybody is responsible for his own words and no one should be forbidden to share his thoughts, even if they are politically incorrect. The world today is so fragile to so called “hate speech” that it could eventually lead to censorship. If someone says something that is illegal (e.g. encouraging to kill someone), he should be punished. There is no need for excessive social campaigns about this. I am aware this is very unpopular opinion, but we are on a good path to be punished for example for criticising black actors in movies about middle ages in Europe.
3. In our country it is very straight forward – finally stop voting for these thieves.
2. Yes. Especially for children. So they don't have acces to think that they can not understand yet.
3. In my opinion the answer more small, independent media.
In my opinion, censorship shouldn't take place in our world, but as is well known, we're often deprived of the right to vote, e.g. shadow bans on youtube, restrictions on expression and Facebook bans, etc.
Just as I think that the rules are necessary and breaking them should result in the account being blocked, I don't understand the approach of facebook or youtube, because they can block for nothing. This is definitely due to the algorithms that support these platforms. In everyday life there are also punishments for misconduct, but on the internet people are unpunished in their opinion.
Censorship is, was and will be. The only thing that can be changed is its restrictiveness. People's conversation with the government should always take place and this should fix a lot, but it is not always so colorful.
I think that ever if we are unable to notice it, censorship exists in modern world and is used all the time. One of the examples is YouTube. One could say "internet platform", "freedom of speech as it's on internet" but during election in Poland last month, there was a video made by members of konfederacja, not that i'm their biggest fan, but they made a funny song that was one of their tools to get to as much possible voters as possible. YouTube though after two or three days of this song getting more and more popular blocked it so it couldn't be searched for. You could only access it if You had a direct link to this song saved somewhere in conversation history with someone. In my opinion that was a very "stinky" move from YouTube, as no platform, as big and popular as them should block content that is not violating any terms of service.
2. Do you think some form of censorship is always needed?
Yes I believe so, for example as society is already aware of outcomes of a socialism, any form of propaganda that could reach those who are not educated enough to understand the real threat that comes with it should be blocked and censored as much as possible.
3. What else can you do to prevent censorship in your country?
Maybe if You want Your message not to be censored, You could try something else than mainstream media, as public TV will always show only content that's fitting their "owners" message.
2. As I mentioned above, censorship is important, but in some places we should abolish it.
3. I think better vocabulary education, its meaning. You just have to make people aware of what it is all about, so that people learn consciously and use censorship.
As you mentioned in the article, censorship is an unquestionable violation of freedom of speech and view of the world, after all, the rulers of the country make available to the public only information that in their personal judgment is convenient and harmless for them. I think that this situation occurs quite often, and in literally every corner of the world, even if the citizens of a country aren't aware that their worldview can also be manipulated. After all, power has an impact on the media, on what will flow into public circulation and what will not. A topic often raised, e.g. in Poland, was the introduction of a set of proposed reforms named "ACTA 2", which aimed to better protection of intellectual property on the Internet. In fact, it was a plan to impose preventive censorship on content on the Internet, taxation of links or linking, reduction of freedom in surfing the web, and much more...
2. Do you think some form of censorship is always needed?
Yes, I think censorship really makes sense and is useful in some cases. One example I can cite here is the filter of vulgar words, e.g. in computer games. Of course, we have the option of disabling it, but in the case of games designed for children, there are entire user banning systems that detect this type of behavior and punish players for breaking the rules.
3. What else can you do to prevent censorship in your country?
I think that the priority of preventing censorship of citizens of a given country is choosing the right authority. When the rulers don't have stupid ideas and don't get bored too much, then they don't come up with such stupid ideas as ACTA 2. Also certainly helps here a high level of education of citizens, if all people are familiar with the world and the events that take place, then it's much harder to get certain information out of people's minds that they have already turned into facts. In addition, you can always try to fight censorship, for example, as the people of Hong Kong did.
Free speech should is basic human right in my view. No government is so perfect that they should be able to decide what other can watch or read. By learning from many sources we can create our own point of view on the matter and train our brain I would say. Sadly censorship is everywhere in every country this days and it seems no one can stop it. Recently there were bad words written on wykop about allegro and how it do some shady things about individual clients there, after few moments people responsible for the information where banned as allegro is owning a part of wykop interest or something I don't remember right know.
2. Do you think some form of censorship is always needed?
No, there is no need for censorship we have law. If someone wants to offend someone he should be free to do it but he also should know to take responsibility for his words. So if he offended someone using lies, they may the court as one side of the process and to take it to national level, citizens needs to know the truth about their country state as their votes are valuable and maybe they should do some manifestation if the government doesn't listen to them.
3. What else can you do to prevent censorship in your country?
No true idea, maybe we as a society should vote with our money and just not buy things from sites or shops that have connections to companies that use censorship for they own way. If it gets to government then they should be changed immidiately.
2. I believe that the majority of society cannot listen to others with understanding. A large proportion of people are poorly educated - such people are easy to manipulate. Propaganda and censorship are used to control society. Each such action has its own hidden purpose. I never support censorship. I always want to know the truth. However, if I were a politician or influential magnate I ould always hide information about my interests and decisions - according to the thesis - the less you know, the better you sleep.
3. In my opinion, we can't protect ourselves from censorship. Currently, the owner of every large newspaper, internet portal, television or radio is a powerful investor who has his own policy and strategy. I would like to remind you that German capital owns about 70% of the press market in Poland. Information, opinions are specially selected to control people. But why we control people? It is simply - to gain more power.
1. I think that censorship in the modern world is unacceptable and there is no government that is allowed to try it in any way. It happens in mainly communistic countries or in those whose past was involved with it, like Russia or China. Let's also not forget North Korea, where censorhsip reached absurd level.
2. I don't think so - it is a cover for "do something behind community's back", which usually stands for something negative. The lack of censorship is a a fundamental factor in society's development.
3. I guess democracy is the key and all people can do is to vote properly in this particular system.
In order to prevent censorship, I think there are several options: to change the government, to change the country of residence, or to become independent from the media (to live in the forest, to eat hares, to drink water from the creek, and to know zen). Of course, it is very difficult to change the government, and sometimes it is dangerous, but for sure it is worth it.
Censorship also occurs in today's world. However, it mainly concerns undemocratic countries. An example is China, where there is enormous control of citizens by the state.
2. Do you think some form of censorship is always needed?
Censorship of hate speech is the only acceptable form of censorship. Insulting the feelings of others and intolerance should be excluded from public discussion.
3. What else can you do to prevent censorship in your country?
Freedom of the media and public reaction to any censorship attempts by politicians.
2. Some form of it is needed because there should be some limits like for example when someone post a comment on facebook willing to kill someone. But that is dictated by law I think. Any other cases should not be prohibited with a reasons that it might hurt someones believes or something. There should be free speech and we should be able to argue about various topics and not beeing prevented to say controvertial words.
3. Make public television independent of the goverment and vote for more normal people. But it is a utopia as there will never be a situation where everyone is happy with everything. Use the democracy, vote, have at least a little knowledge about political situation and realize that it indeed concerns your situation and your future.
I dont have an opinion about censorship. In modern world nobody will show things as is. Everyone will always change something to make themselves look better or the others look worse.
Vote for the good guys ;)
Censorship become something common due to developing our civilization that we are living in right now. To prevent most of the negatives that govern does and says only the good thing and even showing bad things as something good.
I dont have an opinion about censorship. In modern world nobody will show things as is. Everyone will always change something to make themselves look better or the others look worse.
Vote for the good guys ;)
2. If someone needs censorship then he probably did something wrong because why else would he hide it? Hence censorship should be prohibited. Only acceptable type of censorship is censorship of adult content from kids, because some things are just inappropriate for their age and they may even be not aware of it. Everything else though should be up in the open for the people.
3. In case of our country I think the most important thing would be privatization of public media. I'm surprised that author mentioned Hungary, yet forgot about our very own PIS :). TVP is great example of things that should be not only prohibited but also penalized. A television watched by big share of population, mostly gullible elderly people, for which it's often the only way of getting information, yet it's treated as a tool of governing party to control people. I'm sure that if TVP was independent, then there would be no way for PIS to be reelected as ruling party.
2. Yes, but only in some extremal situations and it should be used very wisely and carefully. People should be free to talk whatever they want but without harming others or their believes.
3. It’s very hard to prevent it, especially when we don’t know what was censored, which happens very often. So, I would say that we shouldn’t believe in information that comes from only one source. Every information should be confirmed at least with two sources and even then, we can’t be sure about its reliability.
2. Yes, some forms of censorship is always needed simply because of some law restrictions in various countries.
3. There could be many ways to prevent censorship, but given that it depends on humans, solutions will never be accurate
Censorship in modern world is sometimes necessary to control offensive and violent content in the media, on the internet etc. Some countries use it to control negative comments about governement especially in non-democratic states.
2. Do you think some form of censorship is always needed?
Yes, some form of censorship is always needed. I think no one would like to watch some super violent content on the news while eating dinner with family. Also there are things that can spread hate and violence towards other nationalities, races etc. so it is important to control and prevent hate speech.
3. What else can you do to prevent censorship in your country?
Some forms of censorship are written into system and functioning of my country since it is different from Western countries. There is no way to prevent it, also most people in China actually don't mind it.
2. I would like to see a world full of intelligent people that can filter the truth for themselves so the censorship would be obsolete. People in larger groups tend to panic, therefore some news is probably best hidden. However, this statement is true only to some cases not to everyday things.
3. Be involved in politics more, post on social media, go into the streets, provide proof of some kind and try to demonise those that lied to us. Or, if you are really serious about it, become a reporter and always stay true to the facts.
2)This is a very tough question, but I am more inclined to stand on the position that declares that the only form of state-enforced censorship that can be good is the censorship on the speech that directly incites the violent crime. When it comes to the self-censorship or the restrictions imposed by the rules of private companies on people who are in the contractual relationships with them, I have a hard time deciding where I stand on this question.
3)I share a somewhat controversial opinion that the freedom of expression can only be as strong as the ability of every individual to resist the tyrany. Hence, it is only possible to enforce it for the long term in the countries that permit the private ownership of the firearms and do not infringe on this right in any way. Hence as a long term plan, I would be looking to introduce this discussion to the general public
I am strongly against censorship nowadays. Russia, China and other countries where freedom of speech is violated are classic examples. However, sometimes not only governments are censoring. On facebook fanpages people tend to delete comments they don't like. I am talking here about uncomfortable questions which are not insulting to anyone.
2. Do you think some form of censorship is always needed?
Definitely it is not always needed. It is sometimes needed. We shouldn't allow hate speech for example. However, we need to be able to differ such hate speech from someone just sharing his opinion. It is very hard to do that since the line is very blurred.
3. What else can you do to prevent censorship in your country?
Always speak up and critize censorship. Even if someone says something I disagree with I will always stand against silencing such opinion. We should react early and react fast because if we let anyone take our freedom of speech we will lose all the freedom we have left soon afterwards.