With increasing tendency of internet-based communication, control of information residing or passing through the internet has become a publicized debate over the last few years. A great controversy concerns the question on whether controlling and monitoring information on the internet is necessary. It also concerns the determination of whether such actions are likely to interfere with or violate the citizens’ rights of freedom of speech and expression (Goldman 1075).
On the other hand, the need to control cyber crime, cyber stalking, and violation of copyrights, examination leakage and other negative uses of the internet has become a necessity. The debate further revolves around the need to maintain a particular moral standard by censoring the internet. While some nations have implemented strategies to censor the internet, others are finding it difficult because it is difficult to find the difference between censorship for moral standards and violation of rights (Wu 263).
Therefore, it is necessary to investigate this question in a deeper sense. This paper aims at analyzing recent research and literature on the moral standards of internet censorship in order to show that censorship is necessary. Arguably, the internet has become a tool for communication in socialization, business, governance, education, research, leisure and crime, which makes it play a vital role in all aspects of life. This means that information passing through the internet needs integrity, security and meaning.
However, the information should not be harmful in any way. It should not expose people and organizations to psychological or physical threats. From this perspective, it is clear that censorship is necessary in the modern world, which means that censorship laws should be applied to the internet.
The Importance of Internet Censorship
Internet censorship will improve security and integration
Internet censorship aims at controlling or suppressing certain information on the internet by regulating how they can be accessed, retrieved, viewed, presented or published. This process seeks to eliminate the problems associated with illegal or unethical use of the internet and its applications (Salbu 429).
Since the internet is becoming a crucial tool in managing daily activities, censorship seeks to ensure that the information passed through the technology has a high degree of security and integrity while at the same removing possible threats posed by unethical use of the information. Therefore, it is possible to censor the internet in a manner that will ensure an orderly application of the technology (Salbu 429).
Internet censorship will control indecency of information
Monitoring and controlling of information accessible to the citizens is a noble idea, despite the concerns raised over the possible violations of information and freedom of expression.
Although excessive technical censorship is oppressive, absolute freedom of internet usage and communication is likely to lead to a number of social, political and economic problems. In particular, decency of information and protection of children from exposure to violence, indecent and other offensive materials is important in censorship.
Currently, there is a rising demand for cyber porn throughout the world, which has raised concern over the necessity of the internet usage among the underage people. According to Adams (27), pornography has found a better marketing channel through the internet. In fact, cyber porn is one of the most lucrative businesses in the modern world due to easiness of marketing.
Internet marketing for porn materials is vibrant and vigorous because the audience is receptive. It needs privacy, which is provided free by computer and internet technologies.
The sexual stimulating content of pornography is the material’s main marketing strength (Goldman 1080). However, a number of other factors account for the increasing demand of cyber pornography in the modern context. For instance, consumers need privacy to watch and listen to porn materials, which the internet has provided. In addition, consumers are provided with an easy way of downloading these materials. It is also evident that these porn materials are easily stored and concealed to avoid monitoring.
Children and young people are some of the main target market for the cyber porn marketers. Porn websites are many and carry numerous materials offered at a fee or free to download. Therefore, these features make cyber porn attractive.
There is no way to verify the age of the user, which means that children and young people are free to access these materials. Ethically and morally, this feature is wrong as it corrupts the morals of the views, especially children. Therefore, it is necessity to censor such websites in order to ensure that the information contained therein is accessible to the intended audience only.
Censorship will control cybercrime
Apart from pornography, the internet is an easy tool for criminals to target their potential victims. Cyber crime has become one of the most controversial uses of the internet in the modern world. Although the internet provides an easy and cheap way of communication, it has provided a cheap and easy way of executing crimes.
Cybercrime has increasingly become a problem in most societies because is difficult to investigate and/or arrests cyber criminals. Cybercrime is wide and complex and ranges from cyber stalking to actions that constitute real crimes. With the internet, it is possible to trick people and obtain information or even money from them. Fraudsters have found a good platform of doing business on the internet (Adams 29). They target their victims using fake email addresses, websites and other social sites on the internet.
They are able to obtain private details such as banks details, PIN numbers and other information that enable them obtain money or information from their targets. Every year, thousands of people lose information or money to online fraudsters. In addition, others use internet communication to carry out other forms of crime such as negotiating for ransoms after kidnappings or hijackings, piracy and forgery (Goldman 1078).
The number of examples of cyber crime is relatively large and is becoming complex with advancement in the internet technology. With effective censorship, the world will remain safe because cyber criminals will not have privacy on the internet. In essence, it is only through reasonable censorship that the authorities and institutions can fight cybercrime.
Violation of copyrights has proved to be easier and effective when the internet is involved (Salbu 431). In fact, the internet has provided free access to materials of various kinds and from various sources. It has become possible for authors, scholars, musicians, artists and other parties to post their materials for pleasure, display and other purposes.
Although it has improved both business and information sharing, it has also enhanced violation of intellectual property rights and copyrights. The internet provides a free or unlimited access to such materials, which allows individuals to copy ideas or even entire pieces of work and use it for financial or other purposes.
For example, students, researchers and other scholars find it easy to obtain materials from websites and make minor changes before presenting them as their own. This has a bad implication to the integrity of education system in any society. It is also unethical. Similarly, artists and musicians violate copyrights using the internet, which amounts to a civil crime. By controlling the access and use these materials, it is possible to control all the unethical behaviors associated with the internet technology.
Conclusion
Some authors and critics of censorship believe that it is unethical to control the information on the internet because it is likely to violate the rights to information and freedom of expression. However, it is worth noting that the rate of using the internet for wrong purposes is relatively high. Pornography, fraud and other unethical or illegal uses of the internet have posed real threats to the internet users and the society in general.
Cybercrime and fraud pose economic and social threats to the modern society. Violation of copyrights and plagiarism are some of the problems associated with the integrity of education, research and other fields. Therefore, it is important to censor the internet in order to control crimes, violation of copyrights and other negative uses of this technology. This analysis provides proof that censorship is necessary in the modern world, which means that censorship laws should be applied to the internet.
Works Cited
Adams, Jo-Ann. “Controlling cyberspace: applying the computer fraud and abuse act to the internet.” Santa Clara Computer & High Tech. LJ 12 (2008): 27-33. Print
Goldman, Robert. “Put Another Log on the Fire, There’s a Chill on the Internet: The Effect of Applying Current Anti-Obscenity Laws to Online Communications”. Ga. L. Rev. 29.1 (2004): 1075. Print
Salbu, Steven. “Who Should Govern the Internet: Monitoring and Supporting a New Frontier”? Harvard JL & Tech. 11 (2009): 429. Print
Wu, Tim. “World Trade Law of Censorship and Internet Filtering”, Chi. J. Int’l L. 7 (2010): 263. Print
The world requires freedom and liberty for everyone to feel comfortable and be accommodated in our society. The intellectual freedom is the right of each individual to access information freely, that is both receiving and dispatching, exclusive of restrictions or containment. Free expression of ideas can be termed as intellectual liberty. Democratic societies are mandated to deliver this freedom because is the foundation of social equality and consequently must comprise the right to posses and distribute feelings.
Censorship is the control of materials or supplies that contain information seen to portray or pose negative ideologies that eventually might generate fierce civic arguments to the society, state or even in international boundaries. Information materials censored mostly are films, books, videos; art works both postal and electronic mails. Moderation of materialistic information can be based on definite audiences depending on age limitations or other distinctiveness.
Organizations and human rights activists that advocate for public rights use the power of words to defend any society that might be exposed to certain immoralities. There are some democratic states that have in place clear regulations stating that; every one has a freedom to read, write, view and express. It is for this reason that librarians must forever be enthusiastic to edit provisions and related information and supplies to protect the public from unethical information. The word censorship comes from the Latin word censor. The profession of scrutiny was given to few individuals who were to spy on the rest of the residents’ behavior and ethics.
The art of censorship differs from one material to another. There are numerous things that we see, read, hear or even say in our daily lives; these go down to books, televisions, radios, or any form of electronic media including the Internet, that might have massive impact to our surroundings. Censorship is traced back from the ancient communities like antique Rome, Greece and China, where it is known that around the year 300AD, this was passed as a valid law for checking ethical conducts and opinions of the inhabitants.
One of the most remembered historical saga on censorship, was in the ancient Greece when Socrates was forced to take poison in the year 399BC for admittance of his involving the young in dishonesty and untraditional divinity.This ancient view of suppression, as a compassionate civic check in the most excellent concern of the public, is still in use by many nations in the world and it has along eternal impact on the Soviet Union.
For several reasons communists applied suppression to bargain for their demands, and this is said to have taken the greatest durable time ever recorded in the 20th century. The diverse complications of Censorship as containment, targeting matters seen to be filthy or indecent; unorthodox or sacrilegious; treasonable or profane is consequential to general public. The main aim for this art in our societies is to restrain and conceal beneath the disguise of defending the key fundamental public amenities that are; the State, families and churches.
For any government to get a good grasp of reign there must be mechanisms put in place to gather intelligence that keep the administration updated.One must admit that suppression and the philosophy behind it goes back to prehistoric period. Each culture had mores, norms and rules by which dialogue, clothing, spiritual execution, and sexual appearance were synchronized. As referred to Ancient Rome, where autonomy of idiom was reticent for those in power and that resulted in writers of subversive articles ruthlessly dealt with. Nero the emperor, is in records after setting ablaze books and even expelling many authors.
The emperor conveyed a strong message. As Michael et al (p.142) wrote, “A lot of top secret information, which the newspapers and radios are not, allowed circulating.” Clear evidence shows that the art of repression was inherited from the first autonomous state of Greece. Plato was the initial philosopher to devise a validation for academic, spiritual, and creative expurgation which projected unconventional ideas concerning God, henceforth is taken as criminal acts and proper trial recognized to contain profanation. It is on records that tales being narrated to children by their mothers could be censored. In our modern world, there are different types of censorships carried out simultaneously, and these are moral, Political, religious, military and corporate censorships.
Religious Censorship
The religious censorship actually suppresses the free views that might go against the teachings of the church. It is habitually performed on the foundation of blasphemy, and one known example is that of the author of satanic verses, who was condemned to die by the late Iranian head, Ayatollah.Religious censorship is regarded as the most reactive measure in both ancient and current suppressions. Influential denominations are seen to be enforcing limitations on the lesser ones, shunning their progress due to competition on autonomy. It is believed that expression of thoughts candidly was posing a great menace to some Christian church rulers.
Following the era of Protestantism and the innovation of printing press, both the Catholic and the Protestant church waged a great war on each other, prompting the Roman church to stiffen censorship on many books that were seen to be ideologically unsafe. In the year1559, Pope Paul IV outlawed some books he felt might raise arguments due to their contents. The interdiction of these publications was afterward carried further by many of other succeeding popes in later dates. Until now, there are some books containing teachings that must be censored before being allowed to a particular church or denomination.
Moral censorship
The moral censorship is based upon family interest. There are materials that must be censored before being released to public for children’s safety. Production of pornographic and violent film materials and Internet connection forces moral censorship to take stage. The US, as a known complimentary and independent civilization, where freedom of expression is tolerated, has underlying issues concerning censorship especially the Internet freedom, which has perpetuated a heated debate.
There is a public outcry demanding the monitoring of instructional and library media resources by subjecting all information supplies to sensible assortment criteria. Indeed, it is significant to supply affluent materials to scholars conveying positive information that is not distasteful or containing awful scenery. In this case, teachers are also accountable to widen their essential skills to examine and appraise assets found on the Internet and other electronic Medias.
It has been established that many children nowadays are increasingly accessing the internet and making friends, discussing social issues, meeting adults and their fellow kids. The Internet connection holds vast information that covers from education to sex related articles that are very uncomfortable for kids to access. Lockhart and William (1960) stipulate “Complete responsibility should be ensured when documenting sex articles” parents have urged for an urgent body to monitor and guard children from repulsive scenes of the Internet. The Internet access by kids is one of the disregarded areas that require very swift action from the authorities concerned.
This is the ground that moral censorship can gain its popularity among adults but might score very little on kids’ evaluation board. Even though it is unkind to deny our kids their rights to asses, at times when need be, restrictions must be carried out. Indeed this matter must be addressed tactfully, for the Internet can act as an educational library.
Censorship Political
The majority of influential personalities have been famous because of their ideas and convincing voices. Many have managed to use their strong power of words to convince the world. The German dictator Adolph Hitler was gifted with strong speech and convincing powers that he managed to gain the peoples’ confidence making them follow his directives faithfully. Power of words has made remarkable changes in societies that never knew democracy. And it is for this reason that many governments, have resided to political censorship to suppress those who seemed to be vocally talented. Restraining of views that are seen to be inciting the public is normal with many ruling governments. Obviously, the government of the day has every machinery at its disposal to dismantle any civil disobedience.
This is where political censorship comes in to repress the opposition. A state can use reporters to scuttle some grave propaganda among its people to deter the public from the truth of the matter. In the Soviet Union, there was no autonomous journalism that was allowed, until president Gorbachev ascended to power. The communists’ government was the sole regulatory body that monitored information to be conveyed by the media.
There was only one newspaper that monopolized the media space. However, overseas newspapers that were ultimately allowed supported the regime. Television and radio stations were always under the control of the communists. Foreign broadcasters who were never supportive to the government in any nature found there stations disabled at times. These acts of suppression faded away after the fall of the communists. China still has ideologies of communism and is said to be employing Internet observers of around 30,000 personnel just to monitor the electronic coverage. During the reign of Mussolini, press freedom almost came to an extinct.
There was great consistency put in place to fully check the media. The authorities frequently raided journalists and even closing down some of their premises. The Jews were never allowed to publish any paper and journalism to them was regarded as a nightmare. South Africa also suffered massively under the apartheid regime whereby law was introduced to veto any individual that was against the government. The authorities made sure that any person confirmed to be a government critic was closely censored and there was no way any newspaper could carry a story on such an individual. Saddam Hussein the former president of Iraq also directed the censorship of all press materials that he saw might be questionable.
Another Arabic country that is regarded as mainly oppressive concerning the freedom of expression is Syria. The human rights organizations have been seen in the front line to criticize the government on opinionated detentions and arrests. The foremost obstruction is the inability to afford the Internet services and the ultimate suppression from the government censorship bodies. In accumulation to maintaining rigid control of service providers, state imposes economic and technological constraints to the users of the Internet.
Military censorship
The history of military censorship dates back from the first and second world wars. The military intelligence was vital and crucial for any army to succeed in a battle. There were some secrets and strategies of war that were to be practical in keeping ahead of the opponent, and were applied especially when spying on the next move. The Indian troops of the year 1914 were some of the victims of the forces scrutiny in the famous Western Front.
There was consistent examination of mails by a band of censors that were instructed to compile seven-day information commenting on the contents of the letters. Several specific letters were collected and then translated. They were containing every all details of the sender.The majority of the troops were illiterate, and that meant in residing to others for writing of the letters. For that reason, they had a frantic time of identifying the corporation clerks who were to write the outgoing and to read the incoming mails. They later found out that the authority was censoring their mails and this prompted some of the soldiers who were educated to change writing tactics.
The censors who were intelligent managed to decipher most of the mails written in oblique idiom revealing of their horrors. The US Military censorship was uncommon in the early democracy due to the archaic lines of communications in the forces operational areas. Information received from the facade was never valued for more than a week. When the media fraternity became more complex in later centuries, there was need for scrutiny.
Telegraphic lines were federalized during the civil war era and this was due antagonism correspondence, that the authority wanted to suppress. The civic demand for current updates pivoted the tough contest for the reporters and this saw proficiency in professionalism.Indeed many uncensored news reported were mostly fake, but tolerance was deployed for the authority new, some traces of intelligence could be seen to influence civil opinion. The American war with the Spanish had several efforts of censorship thwarted after a vast logistical failure to conceal violence inflicted by the American troops.” You have not transformed a man since you have silenced him.” John Morley once wrote.
The American government also commanded transatlantic communications that included mails and the line cable. The information from the entire media fraternity, were subjected to strict censorship. When the World War II started, the US government in 1941 had a censor office that scrutinized all the out going and the in coming mails. Some of the in coming mails contained pictures of wounded soldiers and were never wanted to be seen publicly.
This seemed to worry the authority so much, that they had to step up censorship. Reporters had to concur and with strict regulations ended up performing self censorship to avoid victimization. The Vietnam conflict experienced comparatively pleasant bond flanked by the forces and the journalists. Inadequate in their ability to confine the flow of information, the administration had to grant the press practically unfettered admission to the combat zone. When the Americans invaded the gulf region, it was certainly, fair giving more space for coverage and less restrictions.
Corporate Censorships
The application of negative ideologies to corporate sector has greatly impacted on some victims of corporate suppression. Giving out threats to commercial acquaintances, denying admittance in market field and other commercial monopolies are seen to be traces of corporate censorship. Many articles have been denied circulation by corporate bodies in view of tarnishing the media fraternity fearing loses or impeachment.
Sports and film bodies have also suffered silently at the mercy of the corporate censorships. A survey carried out by an independent body found out that, reporters at state media outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and the broadcast networks, mostly were from one party where attitudes were well left to the universal community on a selection of topics, counting on social issues such as abortion, positive action, and gay rights.
The interviewers recognized their prejudice when expressing some of the burning matters involving security of nuclear supremacy, to ethnic promotion, and the1970s power calamity.Their conclusion was that the writers reporting of divisive issues asserted their own opinions leaning to insensible procedures of concurring persons and analysis on their collective assumptions without acknowledging the reality on the ground.
In assurance, this doomed that information houses engaged principally on one party would fabricate equally slanted perception headed for the prejudiced bearing. Many countries of the world particularly African governments are out to gag the media especially those radio stations broadcasting in ethnic languages, which get threats of closure by their oppressors who believe they are perpetuating cultural hatred.Beaumarchais the French writer lamented, “Seeing that as I don’t put in writing about the government, religion, politics, and other institutions, I am free to publish everything.”
Conclusion
In one intellect, the dispute for censorship equality is prevailing. Main concern is the menace of incompetent and unprofessional censorship still lurks with the increasing junction of media providers and modern technologies. Expectations are high that established broadcasters will strengthen their fight for the appropriate delivery of quality services to their customers even though, dictatorial anxiety is still being asserted to these classified operators.
Nonetheless, certain protections from the law are needed while chances are high that current situations shall be put to rest. General public attitude to recent days can be quantified as saying that in many countries across every diverse sections of expansion, it has never been that easy for immediate custodians of children that is; parents to keep an extra close eye on their kids. It is believed that most frequently censored materials are books, for the majority of them dwell on offensive mechanisms mainly politics, gender, sexuality religious values, cultural backgrounds, sacrilegious articles or rebellious and might not be appropriate for the children.
The educational facilities especially libraries are the most vital treasures in any society that value education. They are therefore charged with the full responsibility to both public more so to the children who are at no time required to access any material that might generate a negative attitude, towards their development and later service to the community at large. Censorship as many say could be the restriction of ideas and expressions, but to look at the issue summarily, there are specific questions that must be addressed and put back to their order of sequence. It is clear that no parent will allow any kid to pop in the library and come out with a book containing of violent scenes, sexuality, or with a book that actually endorses witch craft or ethnicity.
Everyone has a great task of ensuring that this general assignment provided by nature be accomplished in the best method applicable. Many hurdles are encountered because strong opposition is met during the removal of unwanted materials that are regarded as risky. Nevertheless, the real victims here are the public. American Library Bill, First Amendment is violated when the removal of books is carried out and actually brings controversial dispute, for people see it as a violation of the act.
The subject of restriction of books in schools is sensitively charged, but having known the consequences is always necessary to avoid confrontational issues. When one considers reading any luminous manuscript, shows that we think autonomy of idiom is precious, we must be able to distinguish and crusade about its most composite and vital limits. The culture of censorship must go on but it must be done both morally and professionally.
Censoring of educational books and other materials require time and money Librarians have great task of ensuring that only censored books and articles are passed to the public. It is a collective responsibility for the parents to also confer with the librarians to advice on materials best for the children. For the exposure of uncensored materials might be harmful to the society; and our kids in particular are the most targeted. Absolutely it is important for the libraries to have censored books and educational materials, because the benefits of censorship outweigh the disadvantages.
References
Aulich, James (2007). Posters of War: Mass Communication and Weapons, New York: Hudson &Thames.
Douglas B. (2000). United States Radio and the Political Culture, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Pp. xx, 362.
Lockhart, William B.; McClure, Robert C (1960 ).The obscenity of suppression: Developing Constitutional Standard. Minnesota Law Review, v45 n1 p5-121.
Michael S. Sweeney (2001). Secrets of Victory: The Censorship Office of and the American journalists and Radio in World War II. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, Pp. 274.
“The fact is that censorship defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion”~Henry Steele Commager
Right from our childhood we are exposed to censorship though in varying degree and measure. Parents dictate what their children should or should not do stressing that it is for their children’s own good. Interestingly, although our parents would dictate what programs we were allowed to watch, that did not stop most of us from watching or listening to censored materials secretly.
Once we grew older, we realized that censorship still persisted especially when the government decided that some music or videos should be censored because their content was considered immoral. However, the big question we should be asking ourselves is who has the right to make the decision that some media stuff is offensive.
Is that not a disguised method of promoting an authoritarian regime by allowing an individual or a group of individuals to make that decision for the entire society The proponents of SOPA bill may argue that internet censorship yields positive results, but we should not forget that we have witnessed instances of society oppression in China where internet censorship laws overlook human rights of expression.
Proponents of the SOPA bill may propose that ‘the end justifies the means’ because it seeks to protect copyrighted material from being pirated online; however, the fact that this ‘end’ is only achievable through unjustifiable means indicates that censorship laws do not achieve the intended results. It is high time we started searching for other means of protecting copyrighted materials, because it is evident that denying all people their constitutional right is not a solution.
Obviously, artists are likely to benefit from internet censorship laws, but are these laws not likely to elevate individual rights over rights of every other individual in the society? SOPA bill portrays the American government as the ‘big brother’ who is always looking after ‘little brother’ just in case they put harmful objects in their mouth. However, the government (big brother) should realize that the society (little brother) has to be set free to make its’ own decisions, because censorship does not guarantee compliance.
History has shown that censorship bears negative results because it gives rise to an utopian society by making some individuals more equal than others. Hitler’s regime is a clear evidence of what could go wrong when censorship laws are misused. Apparently, Hitler banned people from reading books, because he feared they would enlighten the society about his oppressive rule.
Censorship is a reality with certain individuals trying to compel the government to ban particular books from high school curriculum because they think that the information is not appropriate for our youths. Important to note is that any attempt to restrict free thought deteriorates the situation because human beings are naturally thrilled by an opportunity to break the law.
In conclusion, it is apparent that censorship is a severe infringement of individuals’ rights because people have different likes and dislikes. Whatever materials an individual may perceive as obscene maybe appealing to someone else; therefore, what happens if one is allowed to make censorship decisions?
Will we not be promoting individual rights over societal rights? The above implies that adults should be granted an absolute freedom to make own choices. Consequently, if we do not desire to witness a 21st century model of George Orwell’s utopian society, censorship laws should not be allowed to succeed.
Pornography is a big problem affecting all countries in the World and it cuts across all members of society. Effects of pornography are broad and the consequences are hazardous as it affects the moral fiber of the society. Members of the community exposed to pornography are at a risk of committing crimes that could destroy the lives of innocent victims. The dissemination of pornographic material has been catalyzed through the lack or little censorship by Organizations responsible. It is common to find people attending a viewing of and public staging of pornographic shows. These shows are conducted with the full knowledge of authorities (Irving 487). Unfortunately little is being done to stop this as we have reached a point where civil liberties are being used as a defense against such behaviors. At the moment society is under attack and the response from the Government has been very weak in combating pornography. We can no longer afford to hide under the veil and feign ignorance on the crimes brought about by perversion. The society should all unite against this vice. Censorship against the vice should be encouraged.
Introduction
Censorship is the control of communication from one person to another or from one media to another. This communication could be in the form of speech or literature. Many times this communication is suppressed by the deletion of the material to be communicated. This suppression or control is normally done by societies, Governments or even media organizations that are responsible for communication of both print and electronic media. Most of these bodies censor material that rare deemed to be harmful t the physical and mental health of the public or material that can provoke negative public sentiments. The level of censorship varies from one country to another with countries such as China and other Authoritarian regimes censoring any communication that is deemed anti Government. Freedom of speech is very limited in these countries. Censorship has affected even well-meaning individuals and great thinkers from passing on their thought and inventions. For a long time the grip of censorship against the arts and entertainment has slowly reduced but the results of such actions have only served to increase the level of crime through acts of fornication (Irving 492). As much as too much censorship is bad, we must also look at the places and societies where censorship has been eased. At the moment we are finding out that society is quickly devolving backward as the behaviors that are being perpetrated by the arts and entertainment world leave a lot to be desired. In his article, Pornography, obscenity and the case for censorship, Irving Kristol talks about the negative effects that the society could reap as a result of little censorship. He gives a good example where he talks about how the consequences of allowing the propagation of pornographic material through both print and electronic media. Today crimes such as rape have increased steadily over the years and that is why we should get a better way of controlling the media in a way that all freedoms are respected and also in a way that we are able to reduce pornography and all acts associated with it (Irving 489).
Role of Censorship
Apart from the unethical censorship of material that is found to be “politically incorrect” or material found to be innocent, indecent acts are viewed relatively from one person to another and what is seen as offensive to one person can be found to be pleasing to another. Taking this into account Censorship of material should be seen in the context of the effects of the communication to be propagated. A famous playwright, Shakespeare defined censorship as the tongue-tying of art by authorities. At the time art was easily labeled as immoral as soon as it was seen as going against the leaders and rulers of the time. These days the situation is different as we are seeing art has taken a different direction and the ideologies being communicated have resulted in tragedies within the society. Positive Censorship has always been meant to assist and shield the public from concepts that are perilous and also protect the children from violent behavior and pornography. Censorship has always been viewed in a pessimistic manner as it has been seen as the greatest threat to freedom of speech but in fact censorship has served to control the society. When human beings are faced with a common problem, they tend to unite against the common enemy. It is through censorship of certain content that can bring any disunity has been seen as the best way of achieving and conquering the common enemy. In many democratic nations, censorship has been limited to banning explicit material from viewing or being published. This has been done by categorizing the material with age restrictions (Irving 494). In this day and age of the internet it has become more and more difficult as we are even seeing and hearing material that was banned over 20 years ago. Censorship of explicit and pornographic material should be encouraged as we cannot imagine the catastrophe that could result from lack of it (Irving 493).
Conclusion
The policy that one can do what he/she wants to do as long as it does not hurt or infringe on the rights of another individual has long been used as an excuse for the deviant behavior that we are currently seeing. Acts such as couples having sex in public are immoral and unacceptable and this only serves to encourage other people to commit the same offense. Human beings have the ability to act like animals if they choose to but this will only lead to dehumanizing acts such as murder and other acts that we cannot imagine (Irving 495). It is therefore my personal opinion that pornographic or other obscene acts should be punished by the Governments and authorities responsible to safeguard the society from losing our moral authority. The problem is bigger as we are currently seeing and its repercussion could lead to a society where the transmission of sexual diseases could easily wipe out the human race. These are just a few reasons why the Government should enact and enforce the censorship law.
Works Cited
Irving, Kristol. “Pornography, Obscenity, and the case for Censorship” New York Times: 487-95. Print.
The term pornography refers to any material read or watched that is intended to cause sexual excitement whereby the reader or the viewer obtains pleasure. The meaning from dictionary of the term Pornography is displaying sexual materials with an intention of arousing the reader or the viewer sexually. Pornography may be presented through books, magazines, photos, drawings, films and video. However, real sex is not pornography and this means that shows on sex as well cannot be termed as pornography (Copp and Wendell 23).
Censorship of Pornography
A lot of effort has been put forward in order to censor materials and ensure that they are not Pornographic before they are watched or even read in the media. However, this has not been an easy task due to the fact that there are various differences both historical and cultural that exist among different societies. Various religions all over the world have been in the front line opposing pornography, terming it as one of the major factors leading to moral decay in our societies.
The need to censor materials to determine if they are pornographic was as a result of mass industrial production of pornographic materials, which ended up being either watched or read by a large number of people exposed to them especially the youths. These materials came in form of discs and the emergence of internet, which influenced the attitude of many young people towards liking pornographic materials. Pornography through the internet spreads very fast due to the fact that most of it is watched or read free of charge as long as one has an access to the internet. According to (Feinberg 53), this implies that anyone can gain access to it despite their age.
Towards the end of eighteenth century, pornographic materials played a significant role in shaping the minds of the intellectuals. Such materials used to sell very fast and were therefore used to spread any form of criticism to the public. Towards the end of the same century, there was an emergence of a strong avenue for pornographic materials to spread through series of novels that even portrayed rejection of both political and religious norms held by the societies at that time.
Pornography regarding females is particularly regarded as a form of oppression and misuse of power against women by their male counterparts who are seen as the stronger sex. This is so because in most of pornographic materials, it is women’s private parts that are displayed and when they are watched by males, they cause excitement. This is due to the fact that pornography is all about exploitation of an individual in maters pertaining to sex as well as violence exercised on females by their male counterparts. Materials containing pornography in a way silences women and promotes hostility by men. This has led to rape cases and other sex related crimes which go unreported in the society despite the fact that they are committed on daily basis (Hunt 51).
Pornography has the potential to cause conflict in the society and worse still is the fact that little attention is paid to complaints from women regarding their sexual harassment or even their opinions. This is so especially if their opinions appear to disagree with the contents of pornographic materials already exposed to society; they are simply dismissed. Whenever such women speak, they are either not understood or their opinions are misunderstood.
Studies have shown that pornography has caused a notion that when a female says ‘no’ to sexual advancement, she means ‘yes’. This means that, even if females continue being aggressive in the fight against sexual exploitation it will only serve as an encouragement to men to continue oppressing such women. This then becomes a major problem and for a solution to be found, the public requires to be educated on how pornography can be harmful (Feinberg 60).
Any exposure to pornographic materials is detrimental to the society because it leads to moral degeneration resulting to a weak society. Such a morally weak society will engage in promiscuous sex and sex violence which are a threat to many families as well as religious institutions. The state ought to prohibit publication of pornographic materials as well as watching and reading even if it is done in private in order to promote good morals. This will be effective to those who are already exposed to pornography as well as potential consumers of such materials (Baird and Rosenbaum 39).
Pornography has also been termed as a tool through which character is being corrupted, hence preventing the consumers from living a healthy life according to the societal norms and religious norms. Such materials will always promote women abuse and use of insulting words against women. Pornography is also characterized by dehumanization of female bodies which is termed as a vice by most families that are decent as well as religious values. This is due to the fact that citizens in any given society strongly hold to religious values which are against such pornographic contents (Copp and Wendell 27).
Studies have revealed that not everyone feels that censorship of pornography is fair. Several materials have been published with an intension of explaining why it is not important to censor materials to find out if they contain pornographic materials before they are published. Pornography is better viewed as a sex aid because it is not “mentally-intermediated” or “persuasive” speech. The ideas portrayed in pornography are always attractive and encouraging the consumer to continue reading or even watching them without resistance (Chester and Dickey 43).
Those people who defend pornography argues that there is no evidence that it can lead to sex related crimes because, if it were so there would be strong prohibition against it. On the other had those people against pornography strongly believes that majority of rape cases and sex related crimes are as a result of exposure to pornographic materials in the society. However, there is no study that clearly leads to a conclusion that sexual crimes majorly result from access to pornographic materials. Several studies have shown that sexual crimes are manifestations of ones personality and this is rooted in ones childhood. Therefore, when one desire to watch or read pornographic materials it is more of a symptom and not the cause of sexual crime (Feinberg 22).
Conclusion
In conclusion, there is need for censorship of pornography. If possible any government should prohibit citizens from freely publishing and viewing pornographic materials. This is because contrary to what many would refer to as violation of human rights and freedom; it would primarily focus on curbing the harm pornography may cause to women and children in terms of social position and moral degradation. Also this will help in the reduction of sexual crimes like rape including marital rape.
Works cited
Baird, Robert & Rosenbaum, Stuart. Pornography: Private Right or Public Menace. Buffalo: Prometheus, 1991. 39.
Social control refers to organizational or societal practices and trends that regulate personal and group performance. Social control leads to agreement and acceptance of the guidelines of any community, organization, state, or society. Societal control emerges at all levels of social order. For example, individuals socialize to respect their parents purely for the reason that they are parents in the family unit. The peer groups also agree with the familiar customs like dressing styles that control the conduct of group members.
Similarly, the same applies to the institutional values that the scholars must preserve in their academic fields. However, in many official organizations, the employees experience official methods that regulate and rule them. Thus, the peaceful existence of every society depends on the laws they design and make them work.
As a result, groups or individuals are made to do as required by the societal standards they have set. The resumption of governments to implement control strategies aimed at excluding the socially undesirable characters who break laws is one example of the social control on the society that was responsible for setting the social standards they believed were good in ensuring a harmonious society (Beckett and Herbert, 2010, p. 3).
The submission or agreeing to do according to the societal expectations and values are strong under the influence of both official and informal methods of control. Several groups accept and respect the basic societal customs. Individuals do conform to the commands of the law. They follow the daily guidelines in the workplace. However, when those in control come in, they retreat and expect guidance from them. An actual picture of socialization to these values of culture is reflected in such situations.
Many societal control settings are believed to be culturally different. The statement is true when the ability to control others is used to prevent the start of chaos. Several philosophers, including Durkheim Émile, therefore, declare that the forms of social control may be regarded as a rule. Sociologists identify two basic forms of social controls. These are formal and informal controls (Herbert & Beckett, 2009, p. 3). This paper examines the means, endorsements, censorship, as well as the surveillance of societal control.
Societal Control
Different types of control can be used to educate, encourage, or force the outsiders and group members to abide by societal expectations and customs. Similarly, this might enable them not to depart from such standards and expectations.
These may include both official and informal methods of control. Initially, the unofficial societal control may be started by implementing standards and principles through a process of socialization among members of a group. This procedure is concentrated on individuals with similar societal capabilities and intentions. The non-group members or group members with huge natural capabilities help improve the intended result and values of the group.
On the other hand, there is an official method of societal control. The laws enacted by the government prevent the formation of chaos in every social order. Hence, several philosophers such as Durkheim Émile mention formal social control as a requirement by the government (Ross, 2009, p. 271).
The elements of social control differ concerning the characteristics and expectations of those involved. Sociologists identify two basic practices of social controls. This includes what those in control do not want to be associated with the group. The other is to encourage individuals or groups to view the objectives as good for them. The traditional and ancient method of societal control was to be physically violent. In an uncontrolled society of youngsters, physical violence remains the main challenge.
Nevertheless, the main argument is violence in the politely run social orders of the modern republics. There is a lack of proper social co-existence in nations that lack police influence to maintain law and order. All societies have different methods of maintaining control and order in their particular positions. Groups and individuals observe societal standards through a system of social organizations (Herbert & Beckett, 2009, p. 3). These include commercial organizations, state, education, village, caste, kin groups, and family.
Sanctions
The methods for putting into effect the guidelines observed by respective groups are known as sanctions. Sanctions may be negative or positive. Whether positive or negative, these categories play a vital role in societal control. The main objective of social methods is to support and maintain social order. The existence of social order in terms of laws describes the procedure of the conduct that group and members of the public can use in their everyday survival.
Moreover, sociologists categorize sanctions as both informal and official. As an administrator, an individual must consider social control as a mandate and guide. For instance, once an employee disobeys the workplace norm, the executive intervenes through applying the regulations that the employee is supposed to observe. The same applies to lawbreakers who are imprisoned according to the legal guide establishing what is lawful or unlawful (Beckett and Herbert, 2010, p. 4).
Societal sanctions are capable of influencing individuals in every instance of survival. The sanctions might isolate individuals or groups from their associates, subject them to mockery, and deprive them of accessible freedom. Interestingly, sanctions may deny individuals or groups the gift of life — the same guidelines in the name of law subject offenders to punishment, including death sentences.
The ethics and regulations of society may create complicated reasoning for every regulation. Even the soberly courteous police may be required to carry a gun even when issuing traffic ticket in case a rogue driver decides to react against such a move when caught on the wrong side of the set standards. Governments have hence embraced public strategies to reach and control antisocial behaviors (Beckett and Herbert, 2010, p. 4).
Conversely, a good number of groups or individuals will learn if they are cast-off through warning due to their nonconformity to social order. As argued by several researchers such as Cara Tabachnick, groups or persons are positioned in the societal time and space. As a result, the society remains a historical unit that spreads further than every person’s life history.
A society therefore survives and remains ahead of all people and groups. It will continue to survive after the collapse of any group or persons in the same way it appeared before our existence. The arrest and detaining of a trespasser will not make the society to collapse but rather warn others not to do the same (Beckett and Herbert, 2010, p. 8).
At all times, it is expected that organizations, groups, and individuals should act appropriately. Failure of an appropriate action might lead to punishment through the application of the existing laws. This includes formal sanctions like fines, jail sentences, and informal sanctions like mockery and fear. When an individual faces the law, the repercussion is the application of the same law that was protecting the individual before they went against the same law.
Hence, groups or persons in an association might be criticized fairly as there is sufficient room for explaining the reasons for a particular behavior. On the other hand, the performance patterns of governments describe the straight conducts expected from an individual and cannot be changed easily since the law does not favor individuals (Beckett & Herbert, 2010, p. 9).
Positive Sanctions
The positive sanctions are the rewards set for following the customs and the expected behavior. When an individual works hard in an organization, they receive positive sanctions by being promoted. Under social control, promotion, rewards, an affirmation of appreciation, or a smile means a positive sanction. Consequently, the different benefits of positive sanctions might demonstrate different motivations for people to join organizations and social groups.
The positive sanctions indicate an individual or group willingness to operate under the rules the society has set out. The result is a reward for compliance with these regulations. Mutually, the specific and general notions of sanctions advocate for the coercion of persons or groups to the social standards. The rewards enable them to distinguish that the advantages of playing along the laid down rules outshine the penalty costs of negative sanctions.
Moreover, the importance of such benefits depends on the personal acceptance of the social rewards and importance of connections to such prizes. The availability of rewards differs with different groups and individuals. This reflects the difference between financial conditions and the effort the beneficiary has put into achieving the awards. (Herbert & Beckett, 2009, p. 14).
Negative Sanctions
The negative sanctions come in the form of punishment for being disrespectful to the set standards of the group. As an example, serious punishment or imprisonment is a negative sanction for disorderly conduct at school. In this regard, punishments, physical threat, criticism, and frown are good examples of negative sanctions. Different societies differ in determining the behaviors that should be exposed to official social control. That is, the behaviors that should be reported to the authorities, such as the police.
Similarly, they differ in defining the extent of the harshness of sanctions. Singapore deals with serious crimes without mercy. For instance, death punishment is compulsory for murder, drug selling, and offenses related to guns. Negative sanctions are an expression of dissatisfaction for breaking the set norms.
Japan, for example, has generated an exceptional prison for irresponsible motorists. Whereas certain drivers are jailed for knocking and killing, the other motorists serve prison terms for escaping after causing accidents while drunk-driving (Ross, 2009, p. 273).
Informal Sanctions
Informal sanctions are used to ridicule those who violate the set standards. This does not mean that an individual or groups that avoid social order will go unpunished. As an alternative, such groups or individual will undergo informal sanctions. Informal sanctions appear in social communication. Perhaps, wearing a cap backward during a presentation or use of offensive language in the church might result in judgmental stares and criticism.
However, constructive behaviors such as assisting the elderly persons in their dealings will possibly receive approving reactions like congratulations or a smile. Individuals or groups use familiar societal control calmly to put norms into effect. Rising the eyebrow, smiling, laughter, and mockery best illustrates the informal societal control (Ross, 2009, p. 273).
In several cultures of nation-states like the US and Canada, the common sample of informal social control is the use of physical warning by parents. Parents often look at their children with a stern face — some view spanking kids as the necessary and proper method of preserving control. However, the experts of child growth hold that physical punishment is unsuitable since it teaches youngsters to resolve their differences through violence.
Children’s health specialists currently consider that physical forms of punishment are harmful. They encourage parents to use friendly methods and self-control when disciplining their children. At times, informal approaches to societal control are no longer suitable to administer obedience, good behavior, or conformity (AlSabousi, 2014, p. 5).
Formal Sanctions
The sanctions used when discouraging violation of set rules and encouraging compliance to social values are approved through prearranged social devices. The formal sanctions are means that officially differentiate whether or not set guidelines have been violated. A student may face expulsion in case he/she disobeys the code of conduct in a learning institution.
Similarly, unsuitable communication to managers at the workplace could lead to the discharge of an employee. Criminal activities lead to imprisonment. On the contrary, an official award would be given to any fighter who protects a life (Beckett & Herbert, 2010, p. 15).
In the above instances, the arbitrators similar to movie theatre executives, military officials, managers, school administrators, general practitioners, and police officers practice formal social control.
The set sanction is, therefore, an indicator of appreciation or dissatisfaction through the support of policies, rules, and legislated laws. The form of sanction specifies the circumstances in which individuals or groups should be punished or rewarded. Moreover, formal sanctions specify the techniques for governing punishments and assigning rewards (AlSabousi, 2014, p. 5).
The formal sanction may work as the only hope when socializing considering that the informal sanctions cannot always produce the expected behaviors. In Canada, for instance, a more progressive and important mechanism of formal societal control is jailing individuals. One culprit is sent to prison for every forty-three crimes that occur. The others escape imprisonment but receive some punishment. Out of this, small offenders account for nearly 8-10% of the inmates.
The hardened criminals account for the larger fraction of inmates. Therefore, the operational changes in many societies will experience extraordinary crime groups if social control is not strictly implemented. Cara Tabachnick argues that the efficiency of formal based sanctions is expected to be destabilized due to such changes (Beckett & Herbert, 2010, p. 8).
Censorship
Suppression is a way of preventing information from reaching an audience by agents who filters the conveyed information through the internet, television, literature, movies, and media channels. The censors remove or block any materials that are thought to be unsuitable or threatening. In this framework, censors may include public opinion, neighborhood, and the family. Public opinion is shaped through the unsupported information, fact sheet, statutes, motion pictures, TV set, radio, and dailies.
In remote residences, radio has turned out to be the significant channels of relaying information. Persons or groups in distant sites express their opinions on the theme through gossip, as they cannot have access to newspapers or TV.
Contemporarily, many homesteads have access to televisions. In forming the public opinion, visual and print media remains the leading character in urban areas. Amongst the educated, newsprint influences several opinions even though TV has gradually grown predominantly over the newspaper due to a more compelling audiovisual means (Ross, 2009, p. 201).
On the other hand, the relationships in the neighborhood societies are informal and intimate, given that the groups or individuals fit into a similar social order or relations group. The connections remain strong even further than the immediate localities. However, the interactions amongst the urban setting neighborhoods are formal.
The relationships are even fragile in large cities as compared to rural locations and are visible by irregular communications (Herbert & Beckett, 2009, p. 7). As a result, the village accomplishes its function as a channel of societal control since it is a passionate contributor to the day-to-day activities of the family.
The family remains the utmost significant censor of social control since it is the immediate learning environ for every individual. The family shapes the behavior of individuals as it mixes them into the customs, traditions, values, and norms. Correspondingly, the family is an example to groups or individuals that acquire attitudes, manners, and etiquette. For instance, families provide reputation to the individuals and groups. The manifestation is evident in the way of life, interests, and attitudes of group members or individuals.
The predominance of nuclear family arises due scarcity of space, limited revenue, and industrial development in the cities. Other minor institutions like media, age group, play area, and learning institutions complement the family social role. In urban areas, groups or individuals develops the societal status from private accomplishment.
In rural areas, social status is obtained partially from the family. To ensure conformity with acceptable everyday life, normative processes and ethics are mobilized by the society to inhibit behavioral problems, facilitate conformity and restrain social deviance (Fagan & Meares, 2008, p. 183).
Surveillance
Surveillance in the context of social control is an approach that comprises of checking the movements, actions, dialogs, and relations of wrongdoers. Surveillance aids in catching the wrongdoers and prevents people or groups from violating norms. It also ensures that the society is secure from the offenders. Under the law, aspects like customs and values are put in place to control group or personal conducts. They play a fundamental role at the family level and consequently overflow into the community.
Presently, the standards of living, morals, division of labor, freedom, and mixture of different individuals have represents the societies. This has changed the atmosphere of the societal order, and customs are not enough to control the population. By expressing the organizational laws that are supported by the political, administrative and legal mechanism of nations, governments are in an extreme position to effectively control the society (Ross, 2009, p. 203).
Apart from the law, schooling is an important support of the societal order. Education communicates the principles of mixing, tolerance, teamwork, and discipline to groups or individuals. This organizes individuals and groups for social existence.
Education delivers information to individuals or groups on how to maintain social order through social contributions and officially designed courses in universities, colleges, and schools. For example, the focus was laid on beliefs and spiritual scriptures in prehistoric India. However, the control measures changed due to more demands on decision-making skills and information by social growth (Herbert & Beckett, 2009, p. 17).
Eventually, the state plays an important role in surveillance. According to sociologists, the state is accountable for implementing collective authority inside communities to maintain safety and order. Through government policies, the state is capable of maintaining law and order through the implementation of the law. The laws are usually accepted as having an independent power.
However, the law must be supported by force. To ensure proper surveillance, nations aim to offer unemployment grants, adulthood allowance, medical cover, and training to the society. The state stays away from pressuring individuals. It only acts as a formal surveillance organization.
However, the state may require implementing surveillance by using several groups in specific tasks such as currency, security, and preservation of law and order. The state has therefore emerged as one of the essential implementers of surveillance about social control in modern societies (Ross, 2009, p. 206)
Conclusion
Social control is important in ensuring that families, communities, and societies co-exist in harmony. This study reveals that the state, society, predominant traditions and customs as well as families control group or individual manners. Any society with uncontrolled freedom tends to suffer from a lack of social order.
The processes that shape social control vary depending on the environment where individuals live. Religion, customs, and beliefs are forces that informally help maintain social control. In present days, governments play a central role in preserving social order. Social control is impacted by public opinion, neighborhood, and family engagements.
References
AlSabousi, F. Social Control.” PowerPoint presentation. Zayed University, Dubai, UAE. 2014.
Beckett, K., & Herbert, S. (2010). Penal boundaries: Banishment and the expansion of punishment. Law and Social Inquiry, 35(1), 1-38.
Fagan, J., & Meares, T. (2008). Punishment, deterrence and social control: The paradox of punishment in minority communities. Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, 6(173), 173-229.
Herbert, S., & Beckett, K. (2009). Zoning out disorder: Assessing contemporary practices of urban social control. Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, 47(1), 1-25.
Ross, E. (2009). Social control: a survey of the foundations of order. Cleveland, OH: Press of Case Western Reserve University.
Internet has been one of the global most popular sources of information. Its extensiveness in terms of geographical coverage has, for instance, been facilitated by its cheaper cost and developments in technologies. In china an estimate of three hundred and seventy million people are believed to be using the internet.
There has however been a lot of limitation in accessing internet information in the country because the government has moved in to regulate internet usage through censorship. This paper seeks to discuss the censorship issue in China and how it affects creativity of the Chinese people. The paper will look into the history of internet usage in the country, the censorship, effects of the censorship on people’s creativity and the war against government censorship of internet usage in china.
History of internet in china
The first application of the internet which was realized through sending an email occurred in China in the year 1987. A series of developments then followed with initiatives from private institutions and government agencies to venture more into the internet technology.
By the following year, Tsinghua University is reported to have started offering email services. With the development of the country’s first browser in the year 1994 and subsequent move by the government to “provide internet accessing services” in the year 1996, the use of the technology began to develop in the country (Enhai 6).
The number of internet users then started increasing in the country from less than a million in the year 1997 to reach almost seventy million in middle of 2003. The increasing trend has since continued and is almost reaching four hundred million by now (Enhai 16).
The history of regulation of the internet usage in the country is reported to have been simultaneously developed with the establishment and development of internet in the country. The government has since the introduction of the technology in the country moved to regulate the way in which its citizens use the internet.
The move is applied by denying citizens access to some websites and restricting access to others. This move has been facilitated by the country’s legislations that have left internet companies with little options in the country. Calls have however been made to the companies to unite and fight the government’s censorship move (James 1).
Internet censorship in China
The move by the government to regulate the internet has been identified as a step to protect itself from fears. Some of these fears are related to the government’s past actions while others are with respect to the forces that citizens can exert against the government.
It is with respect to these reasons that the Chinese government moves to restrict any form of information that is believed to have the capacity to facilitating these threats. Websites or even mail transactions that are suspected to carry such information are therefore either blocked or restricted.
Specifications have been made to past actions by the government and information that relates to “Dalai Lama, the 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen square protestors, Falun Gong, the banned spiritual movement and other internet sites” (New York Times 1) as elements that receives censorship. Such stiff regulations that are also dependent on global temperatures that are believed to have the capacity to influence the Chinese people still do exist.
One of the most recent heightened censorship was realized in the first quarter of the year 2011 at the wake of revolutionary protests that was felt in the Arab world (New York Times para. 2). Following these occurrences, the government of China increased its surveillance over communications by the Chinese people. Communications through emails and even access to the internet was greatly monitored to avert any fear of anti government protests in the country (New York Times para. 2).
The government has been achieving its censorship move through interception of information that is not trusted, according to the government’s standards. The interception is then followed by blocking the information or the site if the government’s fears are significantly triggered.
It is, for example, noted that Gmail services were disrupted by the Chinese government following anti government protests that were realized in Africa and the Middle East in the year 2011 (New York Times para. 4). Actions such as blocking sites that contained the word “freedom” were also realized in the country in the year 2010 and 2011 (New York Times para. 4).
The censorship move was stepped up in around the year 2008 with ensuring that each internet provider company employ a team whose work is to ensure that information with particular content are not posted on their web pages. This was then followed by a move to ban social internet sites such as Facebook and Twiter.
Another move that started as a regulatory measure over websites that published considerably immoral content such as pornography was later modified to include regulations on information with political contents. In this move, “online discussion forums, instant message groups, and even cell phone text messages in which political and other sensitive issues were discussed received a level of censorship by the government” (New York Times para. 7).
Chinese legislations over censorship
The censorship of communication system in China has been developed on two bases. One of the bases is a set of legislations that have been approved to govern the country’s communication systems while the other basis is being fueled by government forces with the aim of protecting their interest in power.
As a result, government forces and influence has used means some of which are not constitutional to ensure that the media is properly contained to guarantee the security of those that are in power. Most of the government censorship measures that are not backed by the country’s constitution are normally done in secret and covered or if exposed to the public, are manipulated and backed by the country’s legal systems.
Some of the major legislations that allows for the censorship of the internet and other media in the country are the “measures on the administration of internet information services and the provisions on the administration of internet news and information services” (Feng 1). The two regulations were enacted in the year 2000 and 2005 respectively.
The measure on administration act, for example, provides that the state reserves the authority to grant permission to any internet provider company in the country. Once allowed to operate in the country, the companies are subject to “prior review and approval and specialized review and approval of the information that they provide to internet users” (Feng 1).
Under these provisions, the government reserves authority which it can use to intimidate the internet companies as they seek permission to venture into the country’s market. Subsequent provision of the act that gives the government, through its agencies, powers to censor any internet information that is deemed to be “harmful” also renders unchecked powers to the government over its regulation of internet companies.
With no clear definition of what constitutes harmful information or the extent to which a piece of information should be considered harmful, the government is at liberty to pronounce an article to be harmful especially if it reveals information that is not favorable to the government. This act therefore gives the Chinese government powers to infringe on the rights of both citizens and the internet companies over expression and information (Feng 1).
The regulations on administration act also have a lot of impacts on the internet services. The necessity of operational permits to internet companies has also played a role in giving the government powers to control the companies. This is due to the intimidating aspects of possible cancellation of permits in case of failure by a company to comply with the demands of the government over the regulation of the internet.
The definition of information about the government which includes political news and information of economic content among other category of information classifies almost all aspects of news into government regulation.
Diversification of the act over the definition of “harmful information” also restricts the internet companies over the nature of information that they are free to publish without facing censorship from the government. Internet companies are also subjected to evaluation by government agencies that allows for their continuous operations.
Failure by a company to abide by the needs of the government as pertains to the restrictions thus risks a company’s deregistration on the basis of disqualifications over evaluations. Owing to these regulations, the internet companies are forced to resort to self censorship and even yield to cases of government’s censorship in order to be allowed to operate in the country (Feng 1).
Response of the Chinese people to the censorship
The Chinese people have registered mixed reactions over the government’s moves that have over time censored the internet. When Google Company was on the verge of pulling out of the Chinese internet market, it had a supportive base from individuals and parties that felt that the government’s move to restrict internet was uncalled for.
This was reflected in the level of disappointment that this group felt when Google gave in to work under the government’s censorship program. It is reported that censorship of the Chinese based Google was for example realized during one of the anniversaries of “the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen square massacre” leading to a public outcry (MacKinnon 63).
It was actually argued that the blockage of the internet service provider was due to the complaint that was widely raised by people. According to MacKinnon Rebecca, “people responded with anger, directed primarily to whoever was creating the blockage” (MacKinnon 63) and many people and even groups were reported to have made public attacks to the party that was responsible for such actions (MacKinnon 63).
Animated internet postings that were labeled “the person who makes it impossible to access Google” (MacKinnon 63) were also common responses at the time. The people at the same time blamed Google for not being strong enough to oppose the government regulatory measures that they considered to be unfair.
It can therefore be perceived that there are a number of Chinese people who are not happy with such censorship. Individuals such as Xiaobo Liu have occasionally come out to openly criticize the government censorship and internet companies that have cooperated with the government in its internet regulation. A good example was his verbal attack on Yahoo following its “political cooperation with the Chinese police” (MacKinnon 41).
Though there have been forces in the country striving to make success in opposing the government’s role in censoring internet access in the country, a majority of the population, especially the younger generation, are reported to not be concerned with the governments move to censor the internet.
This is specifically because this population does not feel the difference between a censored and a free internet due to the lost history of the country which has been partially achieved by the government’s move to regulate information that is passed to the public.
The government has used its powers to only allow for access to history that is favorable to it thus creating a positive influence. A majority of the Chinese have therefore come to believe that their government has every good reason to censor the internet. This may have been facilitated by the government propaganda over the internet (Zhang and Zheng 11).
The cost of Chinese internet censorship
With the development of internet technology, educational and general learning set ups were facilitated and developed to give wider opportunities for explorations into topics of interest. It is also through such explorations that individuals and group can develop creativity.
The move to censor internet which has been identified to be the cheapest and most readily available source of information, which include intellectual information, can therefore be seen to hinder developments and innovation through disempowering people. An unrestricted internet system for example has tools that can allow for online learning, research experimentations and innovations. The move by the government to limit access to these facilities therefore restricts innovative creativity among Chinese citizens (Internet 1).
A move to censor the internet has limitations to the benefits that can be achieved from such elements as globalization and advanced technology. These restrictions therefore limit exposure of the Chinese people to the developments that are undertaken outside the country.
Information on political, economical and even social developments in other parts of the world is therefore either not available to the Chinese people or is only availed in limited extents. This is because of one of the governments intentions of shielding the Chinese people from external influences that can negatively affect their opinion over their government. Creativity in the country will with this respect be restricted to their environment that has over time been explored before.
As a result, there will be fewer chances of creativity into new developments that can be realized outside the country’s cultural and environmental factors. Limiting people’s exposure to technological developments is also a factor to limiting creativity in a society. With censorship to sources of information over technologies, a person can, for example, not adequately know how to use that technology in order to generate another technology or even to use the technology to create a new product in the market.
Ciecko argued that a high level of censorship is restrictive to “information flow, creativity and experimentation” (Ciecko 80). The extreme cases of censorships that have been extended to control the content that academic institutions can publish have also been a step that limits research and creativity in these institutions. This can also be extended to cover other research bodies in the country.
Due to the censorship, individuals are restricted from conducting a research and creative exercise in their field of interest thus rendering them redundant and discouraged. This can also discourage other people to loose interest in innovative fields. The censorship has therefore made it unsafe and unfavorable to retrieve or share information (Amnesty 1).
Conclusion
The government of China has since the establishment of internet facilities in the country moved to control the use of the services by its citizens. Such regulations were later supported by enactment of regulations in the years 2000 and 2005 that gave the government authority to directly control the services offered by internet companies.
Such regulations have drawn mixed reactions with a number of people and organization protesting against the censorship. A majority of the people have however been influenced by the government to either support the censorship or remain indifferent over it.
This level of censorship has been identified to have negative impacts on creativity in the country. Though the censorship might have succeeded in preserving the interest of the government, it is characterized by disadvantages that have economical and technological impacts and can, in the long run, lead to a revolution for liberalization. There is a need for the government of China to lessen the restrictive measures it has on the internet industry as it in many ways limits creativity of the people of China.
Works Cited
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New York Times. Internet censorship in china. New York Times, 2011. Web.
Zhang, Xiaoling and Zheng, Yongnian. China’s information and communications technology revolution: social changes and state responses. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis, 2006. Print.
In the past and present world, media has remained extremely vital for providing valuable information to the public and government agencies. With more space concerning the freedom of speech and publication, media has been able to reveal critical government information that have led to suspicion among countries in the globe (Karhula 2012).
Even though there have been constitutional guarantees on a free press, the US government has taken some steps to limit what media publishes due to security reasons and to avert any situation where citizens can lose faith and develop mistrust to its governance.
WikiLeaks, for instance, exercised the press freedom by sidestepping constraints on technology and releasing sensitive information, which touched on the past and future plans of the US government (Cull 2011).
Although it remains the media’s right to make public any information, the entire concept has attracted equal support as well as opposition thus prompting the question as to whether the government should censor WikiLeaks or the publisher should do so to the government.
Theory
Whistle blowing has been a common practice in all sectors in the society, especially in companies in order to mitigate malpractices that can arise within the management. From one perspective, censoring WikiLeaks will amount to infringement on freedom rights of the whistleblower website, which has been making citizens aware of internal government deals.
According to Julian Assange, the self-proclaimed founder of WikiLeaks, if citizens become aware of internal government affairs, they can help to reform the government by keeping checks and balances on its progress (The WikiLeaks Battle: Should Information Be Shared or Censored? 2010).
Clearly, censoring media will make governments engage in nasty deals that can harm the lives of other people in the world through torture, corruption, and hypocrisy. When WikiLeaks came into force in January 2007, its main objective was to expose the oppressive regimes in the Middle East, Sub-Sahara Africa, and Asia.
When WikiLeaks posts classified United States’ documents in a public website, it destroys international relations (Whalen 2013). For instance, the act of revealing the US military strategies on how they attacked and occupied Iraq made US troops vulnerable to external attacks, as terrorists and militias could plan how to counter their progress.
Besides, the diplomatic success in solving the perennial conflict between Israel and the Arab world at Camp David could not have been realised if WikiLeaks could have released all the documents to the public domain (Wing 2010). For sure, WikiLeaks could have disclosed all progress in the dialogue such as compromises that the concerned parties were making thus involving the public in influencing the final decision.
From this point, it is essential for government to censor WikiLeaks in order to enhance success in solving numerous conflicts in the world (Radack 2010). WikiLeaks have also caused threat to both national and world security. For example, the revelations of the US and Israel’s roles in disclosing Iran as a militant nation made Arab nations believe that the tensions in the Middle East were due to US and Israel’s under-deals.
Literature: Method
Basic data collection methods that will assist in analyzing the feasibility of the research question are content analysis and filter bubble. Content analysis is a methodology that can study the content and effects of WikiLeaks’ data over the internet. Since the research question touches on blogging and contents in an online database, filter bubble will be effective in evaluating the content that matters to the public.
Filter bubble will pre-determine information content that users will like to view. This methodology will assist in gauging whether the public have interests on the information that WikiLeaks publishes or not. In addition, using algorithms, the system will reveal what the internet hides from users and evaluates the likes and dislikes of users.
Afterwards, the results will prove whether the government should censor WikiLeaks for protecting public’s interests. This method of collecting data will expose issues and effects of media violence on children and even old people (Thierer 2004).
For instance, repercussions that WikiLeaks contents have on the public and the government agencies. The results obtained at this stage will aid in deciding whether the government should guarantee media’s protection for its role in society or not.
Implications
From the aforementioned results, it is evident that media plays significant roles in protecting the society from bad governance. WikiLeaks revealed that over 100,000 Iraqi citizens died during the ousting of Saddam Hussein, the number is actually 15,000 higher than the earlier reported value (Baghdad War Diary 2010).
Chronologically, the world disintegrated into two: the East and the West, with different economic ideologies communists and capitalists respectively. WikiLeaks could be working with the Eastern block to discredit the activities of the Western block that comprises majorly of the US. Activists who publish documents in the website can act under influence from other blocks in the world (Josh & MacAskill 2010).
In the Iraqi Invasion, the US planned to end the bad governance in the Middle East nation and eliminate weapons of mass destruction. WikiLeaks owners must understand that the US achieved its goal in Iraq. In my opinion, the government should censor WikiLeaks in order to control information content that it releases to the public.
The Australian government and other nations should also encourage Julian Assange to publish information that he deems fit, but should also monitor the content the whistle blowing website is publishing (Chin 2010).
Conclusion
In attempting to censor WikiLeaks, the US and Australian government will be limiting the freedom of the press. Civil right groups world over will strengthen their supervision roles on government functions (Sewell 2013). In addition, most media firms will feel insecure when publishing their collected information for fear of victimisation by government agencies.
Cull, N. 2011, ‘WikiLeaks, public diplomacy 2.0 and the state of digital public diplomacy’, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7, pp. 1-8, via The Place Branding and Public Diplomacy database.
Censorship is a dominant feature of the society today. Every society in the world today has some form of censorship regardless of how progressed or civilized it is. What differs is the level and extent of censorship, together with degree of enforcement. In some societies, it is overtly practiced, while in others, it is covert, subtle and indiscernible, but present nonetheless.1
There are several definitions of this phenomenon of censorship. It can be conceptualized as the utilization of state or group power to exert control over the citizens’ freedom of expression.2 In contemporary society, this phenomenon can be conceptualized as efforts by the state organs to suppress dissemination of information3, expression of views or other modes of expression like art and literature.4
When the word censorship is mentioned, many people associate it with gagging of the media by the state and other agencies in power. While this may be the most prevalent form of censorship in contemporary society, it is important to note that there are several other forms of censorship that exist in the society.5
For example, there may be censorship in a dictatorial regime where human rights’ activists and other pro-democracy campaigners are arrested and executed summarily to suppress the permeation of democracy in the state. Censorship can also take the form of religious persecution. This is especially so when the government or a dominant religious denomination in a country is of the view that the proliferation of a certain religious dogma threatens the stability of the country or the grip of the rulers in the society. A case in point is the infamous censorship of religious materials by the early Roman Catholic Church.6 These are just but a few of the forms of censorships that exist in contemporary society.
Whichever form the censorship assumes, it is important to note that it is erroneous to assume it is a new phenomenon in the society.7 Censorship is as old as human civilization. It is noted that this form of state control can be traced back as early as 300 A.D.8 This was in China, a country that is closely associated with many forms of censorship in today’s society.
Censorship has been a part of Chinese society for a long time now.9 Successive governments, from the early dynasties to the current ruling party in the country, have used censorship in one form or the other. A wide range of justifications was used by these administrations to legitimize their use of power to control and censor several attributes of the Chinese society.10
This thesis is going to look at censorship in China. Given the fact that the author is a history student, this thesis will look at censorship in China from a historical perspective. The researcher will look at censorship in the history of this country. This means that the researcher will look at how different regimes in this country employed this form of control and the justifications that they gave for their actions.11
Despite the fact that different regimes give different justifications for censorship, this author believes that all of them were motivated by a single underlying objective. This is their desire to maintain political control and power over the citizens.
Censorship in China
In section 1, the investigator introduced the reader to the study by providing highlight of key issues. The researcher also provided the reader with a hypothesis statement that will be guiding them throughout the study.
In this section, the researcher will analyze literature that exists in the field of censorship with special attention to the People’s Republic of China. The aim will be to provide the reader with a picture of the status of this phenomenon in the people’s republic of china from a historical pedestal.
Censorship: Overview
Before embarking on the analysis of censorship in China, it is important to provide the reader with background information touching on various aspects of this phenomenon. This will help in contextualizing and locating the discourse that will follow within the wider field of censorship.
Common Rationales for Censorship
As earlier indicated, there are several justifications that are used by the state and other organs to legitimate their suppression of speech and other modes of expression in the society. These justifications are important given the fact that the controlling agency always seeks to have the support of the public, regardless of the fact that their actions may be harmful to the same public. Some of the justifications are genuine, while others are just excuses and efforts by the controlling agency to hoodwink the public.12 The following are some of the common justifications and arguments given to support censorship:
Moral Justification
Censorship may be justified by the argument that materials banned pose a moral threat to the society. This justification may be genuine when the government bans pornography, especially child pornography.13 However, some governments may try to justify the banning of music and literature that they consider a threat to their rule on a moral basis.14 A case in point is when China banned western literature by arguing that it is corrupting the minds of the youth, posing a threat to the culture of the Chinese society.15
Military and Security Justification
This type of censorship is especially prevalent in times of war and military aggression. The government makes deliberate efforts to control the dissemination of military intelligence touching on factors such as tactics to be used and type of weaponry.16 The argument is that, when such information is made public, it will eventually find its way into the hands of the enemy, working to the disadvantage of the state. This is especially important to curb espionage, a major threat especially in times of military aggression.17
However, some states and regimes may make efforts to censor military information that has no military significance, especially so if the information poses a political threat. This is for example when the United States of America suppresses information touching on her military activities in Afghanistan to ensure that the administration is not portrayed negatively to the international community.1819
Political Censorship and Justifications
This kind of censorship takes place when the state and its security apparatus withhold information from the populace for a number of reasons. This is especially done during times of crisis when the government is of the view that if the public shares information freely, there might be civil strife.20 The government may make efforts to gag or curtail the activities of the media, ensuring that the media does not report on matters that are considered to be sensitive to the security of the state. This is for example what the ministry of information in the People’s Republic of China does when it gives the media houses guidelines on what to cover and not cover as far as their news are concerned. For example, news touching on Taiwan and her fight for autonomy are considered to be politically explosive, and as such the state ensures that coverage to that end is limited.21
Another strategy used by the state as far as political censorship is concerned is disinformation.22 This is carried out through the government’s propaganda machinery. For example, in the Peoples’ Republic of China, the government has a well established, albeit covert, propaganda department.23 This was a hitherto vibrant arm of the government that was especially used by Chairman Mao Zedong to maintain his grip on the nation.24 The propaganda machinery is used to provide information and misinformation to the public, information aimed at furthering the interests of the government as far as maintaining political control is concerned. The propaganda is used as a means of distracting the public from controversies that may be surrounding the administration of their government.25
Religious Justifications
The controlling agency may carry out censorship and justify their actions on the basis of religious grounds. This takes place when the state or the dominant religion in a country controls the public access and utilization of materials that are taken to be controversial or objectionable to the philosophy and dogma of the state. For example, there have been incidences of religious bans by Mao Zedong, when he was persuading the Chinese to be atheist and shun anything to do with God and religion.26 Religious materials, temples and such other religious artifacts were destroyed during this campaign.27
Justifications to this end are based on the argument that the banned religion poses a threat to the cultural framework in the society. For example, the government may argue that western religious beliefs encourage the erosion of the society’s traditional beliefs.
Corporate Justifications
This form of justification is especially used by corporate media editors when they censor the stories that are published and aired by their media houses. When information that may negatively affect the media house’s business partners, the editors may censor it and claim that they could not possibly hurt the business of their benefactors.28
Types of Censorship
As there are different justifications for censorship, so are there different types of censorship in the society. The following are some of the different types of censorships in today’s society:
Political Censorship
This is the form of censorship that the controlling agencies justify on the basis of political interests. This takes place for example when a dictatorial regime censors any democratic activities in the country. The state may ban the publication of any democratic materials or the conduction of any democratic activities in the country.29
Strict censorship has especially been recorded in most Asian and European countries, including China. The governments in this region controlled tightly the media and other aspects of the community.30
For example, recorded history in the Soviet Union shows that independent media was nonexistent in this society.31 This was until Mikhail Gorbachev rose to the position of the Union’s leader.32 The Communist Party and other organs of the party fully controlled the media in this country. Pravda was the major daily publication in this country, and it acted as the propaganda mouthpiece for the Communist Party.33
In the People’s Republic of China, censorship continues to be carried out by the Communist Party. This is especially so given the fact that this country is still one of the countries in this region that is ruled through communist dogma. For example, approximately 30,000 individuals are employed by this government to control the internet.34
State Secrets’ Censorship
States that are in war carry out explicit censorship to safeguard their interests in the war. This censorship is aimed stemming the flow of information to the enemies of the state. For example, the government will control the release of information regarding the movement of their troops in the field. The release of such information may be delayed and released when it serves no purpose to the enemy.35
A case in point as far as state secret censorship is concerned is the one carried out by the British administration during the 1st World War. Letters sent by soldiers from the field to their family and friends back at home were heavily censored by the authorities to ensure that the soldiers did not disclose war secrets to the addressee. This practice was carried on to the Second World War. The authorities were guided by the “loose lips sink ships”36 mantra.
Educational Censorship
Another type of censorship carried out by states in contemporary and earlier societies includes the control of the contents of textbooks that are used to teach students in schools.37 This is one of the most controversial censorships, given the fact that it seeks to control the young members of the society.38 For example, claims have been made to the effect that the Communist Party in the People’s Republic of China censors the inclusion of the Cultural Revolution events in school textbooks.39 This is aimed at preventing the negative portrayal of the Communist’s Party to the youngsters.40
Other historical events that are censored from textbooks in the People’s Republic of China are the 1989’s Tiananmen Square protests.41 This kind of censorship is significant given the fact that presentation of historical facts shapes the socialization process of the learners as well as their views and opinions towards conventional thoughts.42 Given this, the government may argue that this material is inappropriate for the learners, and may corrupt their minds. This argument is however controversial, given the fact that the government may label as inappropriate any form of material that threatens their grip on power. The censorship is for their own interest, not those of the learners.43
Other forms of censorship carried out by the state include censoring of music and other forms of art, censoring of the internet and such others. Each of these censorships is justified on one basis or the other.
Censorship in China: Analysis
As earlier stated in the hypothesis statement of this study, different regimes in the peoples’ republic of China have practiced censorship in various forms and justified the same variously. However, the underlying motive for these kinds of activities is to ensure that the government maintains control over the public by weeding out any elements that are deemed to be a threat to their rule.
On political basis, censorship in this country has been viewed as helping the government to stem the activities of reformist and other revolutionaries, despite the fact that their activities and organizations may be peaceful.44 The public, through such censorship acts, is also prevented from learning about the failures and atrocities committed by the regime in the past.45 This helps in preventing the citizens from developing anti-government sentiments that may threaten the control of the party. The Chinese public, by being isolated from foreign publications and ideas, is prevented from being aware of alternative forms of governance.46 As such, they can not demand for a democratic government given that they are not aware of the benefits of such form of governance.47
Chinese authorities have also carried out censorship and justified the same on the basis of cultural interests. A case in point is thee activities of the Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution. Foreign literature and other artifacts such as religious symbols and ancient drawn from ancient China were destroyed since they were considered to be a danger to the cultural framework of the Chinese at that time.48
Chinese Rulers and Censorship
The Chinese society has undergone many forms of censorship under the rule of a number of regimes. It is argued that censorship in this society is as old as the society itself, given that it has been carried out by rulers from the early regimes to the current. As earlier noted, the first form of this activity was noted in the year 300A.D.49 In this section, the investigator will look at a few of the rulers in this society and the form of censorship that they carried out.
The Qin Dynasty and Censorship
Chinese history is usually told from the perspective of the different dynasties that has ruled the nation. Historians consider the Qin Dynasty to be the first in a string of many dynasties that were to later rule Imperial China.50 This dynasty was at the helm of this country from the year 221 BC to 206 BC.51
This dynasty is one of those that brought about great changes in China. These changes were brought about by drastic measures that were implemented by the rulers in this dynasty. Trade increased during this period, as well as agricultural output and strength of the military.
Before the ascendancy to power of the Qin dynasty, the Chinese community was basically organized in a feudal system.52 The peasants held allegiance to the land owning lords, and the former were the ones that controlled the society. During the Qin dynasty’s reign, this system was abolished, and the central government could now control the public directly.53 This ensured that the dynasty had a large workforce, a workforce that was used to improve the economy of the country.54
Now that the government had access to a large pool of workforce, it was able to embark on some of the most ambitious projects in Chinese history. For example, the government was able to marshal the masses and construct the Great Wall of China, a major landmark in Chinese history.55
The Qin dynasty, however, introduced some reforms that have been charged harshly by historians. A case in point is the attempt by the rulers to rid China of all traces from the earlier regimes. This led to one of the most notable censoring incidences in Chinese history. This censoring came to be known as the “burning of books and burying of scholars”56 in the dynasty. A detailed analysis of this censoring follows:
Burning of Books and Burying of Scholars
This was a series of events that took place between the years 213 and 206 BC.57 This censorship was mainly aimed at weeding out the Hundred Schools of Thought’s58 philosophies that were deemed to be against the rule of the regime. The Hundred Schools of Thought was a set of thinkers, scholars and schools of thoughts that existed during one of this country’s great intellectual and cultural success.59 This took place between the years 770 and 221 BC.60
Many schools of thoughts flourished during the Hundred Schools of Thought era. This included Confucianism, Legalism, Taoism, and Mohism among others.61 The burning of books and burying of scholars saw the rise and dominance of Confucianism and the decline of Mozi School of thoughts.
The Qin Dynasty advocated for Legalism School of thought, and all the other school of thoughts among the Hundreds School of Thought (with exception to Confucianism) were expunged.
Legalism school of thought is associated with two thinkers in early Chinese society. These were Han Feizi (d. 233 BC) and Li Si (d. 208 BC).62 According to these two thinkers, man is inherently selfish. The only way that human nature can be controlled to maintain peace and social order in the society, according to legalism, is to exert discipline and control from above. An overall and all powerful authority should be tasked with the duty of enforcing rules and laws strictly.
Legalism put the state on a pedestal, placing it above all other institutions in the society. The prosperity of the state was prioritized at the expense of the welfare of the masses. Contrast this with Mohism, a school of thought that advocated for universal love.63 This school of thought (Mohism) was of the view that every man is equal in before the eyes of the heavens.64
It is no wonder then that the Qin dynasty sought to exalt legalism above Mohism and other school of thoughts that advocated for ideas of equality and universal love. Legalism allowed the rulers to control the masses, for example marshalling them to build the Great Wall. Legalism fitted perfectly with the desires of the Qin dynasty to bring about sweeping reforms that included the implementation of some of the most ambitious projects in Chinese history. Universal love could not support the forced labor that saw the construction of the Great Wall and other projects around the country. This supports the thesis statement of this study, given that the Qin dynasty sought to exert control over the masses.
Book Burning
The censorship that was carried out by this dynasty, with regard to the burning of books and burying of scholars, is well documented in the Records of The Grand Historian.65 Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of this country, is credited with uniting China in the year 221 BC.66 The chancellor to this emperor was Li Si,67 one of the thinkers associated with the legalism school of thought. Li Si convinced the emperor that there was a need to unify all the political thoughts and opinions in the country. According to him, this could be done only by suppressing the intellectual school of thoughts in the country, and thus began the censorship in this dynasty.
All the books and other literature and classic works from the Hundred Schools of Thought were subjected to burning from the year 213 BC.68 Naturally, the books and other forms of literature from Li Si’s school of thought, legalism, were spared. Li Si was able to convince the emperor that all the other schools of thoughts were undermining his legitimacy. As such, the burning of the books was informed by Qin Shi Huang’s fear of lose of grip over the masses.
Developments that can be discerned as propaganda efforts were initiated by the emperor at the behest of Li Si. The emperor penned his own history books, giving views that he thought were appropriate in the running of the government. All history books in the dynasty, save those authored by the Qin historians and scholars, were to be torched. For example, Classic of Poetry and the Classic of History were two literatures that were especially targeted by Li Si and his allies.69 The two books were explicitly censored to the extent that citizens were banned from any form of discussions touching on the two. Any person found to be contravening this was to be executed.70
Other forms of punishment for the crime of being in possession of banned literature were execution of entire families. The “law breakers” were also sent on forced and hard labor to build the Great Wall.71 Only books from four fields that were thought to be necessary for the prosperity of the dynasty were spared. These were those touching on war, agriculture, medicine and prophecy.72
This selective censorship goes further to support the thesis statement of this paper. The emperor did not destroy those books that were instrumental in furthering the grip of this ruler over the dynasty.73
Burial of the Scholars
Even though this occurrence was not directly associated with the censorship of books and other form of literature censorship during the Qin’s reign, some connections are nevertheless discernible.
Qin Shi was mollified by mortality. As such, he engaged in persistent efforts to look for remedies that might prolong his life, and if possible, make him live forever.74 It is during one of these searches that he was deceived by two alchemists.75 He was so mad that he made a decree that led to the burying alive of 460 alchemists.76 Other accounts of history during the Qin’s reign are of the opinion that another 700 alchemists were buried alive during this time.77
Majority of these alchemists were Confucius scholars, and burying them was bound to anger Confucius followers in the dynasty. This was another form of censorship, albeit with a measure of subtlety. The access of the public to these alchemists was censored. In fact, historians attribute the short lived nature of the Qin dynasty to the burial of these alchemists.
There are also reported cases of scholars, especially those that disobeyed the book burning decree, being buried alive. Scholars and thinkers who continued to advocate for Mohism and other school of thoughts that were considered a threat to the dynasty were buried alive to deter others from engaging in such acts.78
Mao Zedong and Censorship in China
This is another ruler in China who is associated with strict acts of censorship. He was born on December 26, 1893, and died on 9th September, 1976.79 he is also one of the most influential and most famous Chinese leaders. He was a communist at heart, and he is credited with the establishment of the People’s Republic of China.80
Mao Zedong led to the creation of the Maoism school of thought. His social political programs attracted a lot of controversy, and they were marked by censorship and other forms of control. These are policies such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, some of the notable contributions of Maoism to the Chinese society. His rule, especially the period between 1949 and his death in 1976, was marred by a lot of controversial policies.
This paper is going to look at two of these policies and the censorship attributes of the same.
The Great Leap Forward and Censorship
This was an economic and social campaign that was started by Mao Zedong and his party, the Chinese Communist Party.81 It spanned between the years 1958 to 1961.82 The major objective of this program was to utilize the large Chinese workforce to industrialize the nation. Thee theoretical basis for this program was the Theory of Productive Forces,83 a development that pointed to Mao’s political theorizing.
The major form of censorship that was carried out by Mao Zedong during this time was economic in nature. Private farming was censored, and the administration encouraged agricultural collectivization.84 The program, however, was a catastrophe. More than 45 million people died from starvation, violence and such other vagaries by the end of the program in 1961.85
Ownership of large tracts of land by wealthy individuals was censored. Their land was redistributed to the poorer peasants by force.86 Farming of certain crops was also censored. For example, the Communist Party termed some of the crops as full of evil.87 These were crops such as opium. They were destroyed, banned from been produced and replaced by crops such as rice grains. The government also monopolized the distribution of grains and other major foodstuffs produced by the farmers. Censorship was implemented to the extent that private distribution of grains such as rice was banned.88
Mao Zedong and his allies realized that the proposed changes will be fiercely opposed by the masses. This will threaten the hold that the Communist Party and Mao Zedong had over the masses. Something had to be done to consolidate the power of the party. This led to the introduction of the agricultural collectives. This was aimed at bringing the people under the control of the party. The people were forced to join agricultural collectives, and individual farming was censored explicitly.89
The Great Leap Forward also had some overtones of religious censorship on it. For example, all religious and mystic institutions in the rural areas were banned.90 The ceremonies that accompanied these religious movements were also censored. In its place, Mao Zedong encouraged political meetings that were used to purvey the propaganda of the Communist Party.
Mao Zedong also censored free speech during this time. However, the censorship to this end was subtle and cleverly crafted. For example, in the year 1957, Zedong implemented the 100 Flowers Campaign, a campaign that was ostensibly aimed at enhancing free speech within the Communist Party.91 However, critics have argued that Mao Zedong’s intentions were not to encourage free speech, but to curb it. The campaign was a ploy to let the critics of his leadership to expose themselves.92 This was confirmed by the anti-rightist campaign that followed shortly. More than half a million critics of the party and of the agricultural policies were weeded out during this campaign.
Censorship has many and far reaching impacts on the society. One of the major impacts of this form of governance in China during Mao Zedong’s reign was the lowering of the citizen’s quality of life.93 Masses starved, especially after the authorities enforced the steel production requirement for all households. This led to the establishment of backyard furnaces, and farm tools were smelted to enable the peasant attain the steel production quota set for them. Farming was censored, and grain production plummeted, leading to severe hunger.94
The Cultural Revolution and Censorship
This is another project that is associated with Mao Zedong in China. It was initiated in the year 1966 and came to an end when Zedong died in the year 1976.95 At its wake, this movement left a lot of destruction, including destruction of artifacts and historical sites.96
The idea behind this movement can be attributed to Mao’s childhood and upbringing. It is important to note that Mao was born to a peasant family, and as such, naturally harbored resentments towards the bourgeoisie. In justifying the Cultural Revolution, Mao argued that liberalists from the bourgeois class were acting against the spirit of the communist party by encouraging capitalism. These radical elements, according to Mao, were to be weeded out through a violent class struggle powered by the youth.97 This was how the Cultural Revolution movement was born, together with the accompanying Red Guard movement.
The Cultural Revolution, The Four Olds and Censorship
One of the major objectives of the Cultural Movement was the destruction of what the advocates came to refer to as the Four Olds, or the Four Old Things.98 These were the four things that were seen to be working against the modernization of China. They included antiquated customs, culture, habits and ideas.99 The campaign was initiated in Beijing on 20th August, 1966.100
This campaign was not unlike the burning of books and burying of scholars campaign by Qin during the reign of the Qin dynasty. Just like in the Qin dynasty, this campaign was driven by the leaders’ paranoia on the effects of what they referred to as old things on their legitimacy. For example, the old ideas of Confucianism were a threat to Mao’s communist ideas and rule. As such, to strengthen his grip on the People’s Republic of China, Mao had to censor these four old things.101
Intellectuals and thinkers were targeted by these campaigns. They had their ideas censored, and books written by them and other presumed radical elements were destroyed. The intellectuals were especially viewed as personifications of the four olds, and as such were destroyed together with them.102
The Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards and Censorship in China
The Red Guard can be viewed as one of the organs that were used by the state and by Mao Zedong to enforce his censorship campaigns. It was a mass movement that was made up mainly of the youths drawn from the country’s universities and colleges. The activities of this movement were especially pronounced between the years 1966 and 1967.103 This was the period within which the Cultural Movement campaign was at its zenith, and this movement was instrumental in carrying it out.
The Red Guards movement is a classic example of how the state can use some elements of the public itself to implement censorship decrees upon the same populace. The most public endorsement of this movement by the administration took place on 18th August, 1966.104 Zedong granted more than a million Red Guards an audience in Tiananmen Square.105 He went as far as publicly donning the movement’s symbolic armband to symbolically express his support for the movement.
Zedong’s administration used the gullible nature of the youths and their pent-up frustrations to further the obvjectives of the Cultural Movement. This was evident during the proceedings of the 11th Plenum on August the same year.106 This was the meeting that came up with the resolutions that were to guide the Cultural Revolution. One of these resolutions was an agreement among the officials on the role that will be played by the students and the youths in extension during the revolution. It was unanimously agreed that the youth, through the Red Guard movement, will be asked to destroy the Four Olds.107 The rest of that year was marked by the Red Guards marching through the streets of urban China, ransacking libraries, museums and any other places that had the faintest resemblance to the old fours.108
The Red Guards were also used by the Mao regime to censor intellectual thoughts and intellectual dissent in the countries learning institutions. For example, professors that were deemed to be advocates of the four olds were targeted. They were publicly humiliated and persecuted. They were stripped of their teaching duties and allocated menial roles such as washing of toilets and sweeping the streets. The aim was to censor their radical thoughts by making them reflect on their “past mistakes”.109
The Red Guards movement can be viewed as the efforts of a scared regime, a regime scared of losing its control over the populace. The movement was used to help the regime maintain control by instilling terror on the public, instilling terror to the extent that radical thoughts and ideas were stemmed. The Red Guards were also used to help quell the resistance of the public against the Cultural Revolution Campaign.110 By instilling terror on the public, the Red Guards made Mao Zedong and his allies’ work of ruling the People’s Republic of China easier.
Falun Gong Movement and Censorship in China
Falun Gong, also referred to as Falun Dafa,111 is one of the most recent movements in China that has had profound effect on the culture and lifestyle of the Chinese people. It was started in the year 1992 by Li Hongzi.112 It is a movement based on a system of beliefs and practices, and has been viewed as a remnant of the country’s qigong movement.113
One of the central tenets of this movement is morality. The movement advocates for truthfulness, universal compassion and forbearance.114 Between the years 1992 and 1999, the movement expanded rapidly, by the time of which it had about 70 million adherents.115
Falun Gong has not gone unchallenged over the years. In July 1999, the People’s Republic of China government, led by the communist party, officially banned this movement.116 A nationwide campaign targeted at the leaders of this group and the adherents was initiated. There are claims that members of this movement are victims of widespread abuses of human rights orchestrated by the government.
The teachings of the Falun Gong movement do not sit well with the communist government. For example, the movement teaches that humans are innately virtuous, but they are corrupted by selfishness and such other desires for worldly goods.117 They thus advocate for control over the bodily desires and frugality. The influence that such teachings may have over the public may seem to erode the control of the government over them. The public may start viewing the communist party and its dogma through another set of lens, and this may make their subjectivity to the communist party shaky.
The Ministry of Public Security has censored any materials touching on the teachings of this movement.118 Books and banners bearing the teachings of the Falun Gong movement have been declared illegal, and they are explicitly censored. This form of censorship also supports the central argument of this paper, the argument to the effect that the Chinese government engages in censoring activities to maintain control over the public.
Conclusion
This paper has showed that censorship in the People’s Republic of China is carried out by successive regimes to serve their own ends. The regimes may try to justify their actions variously, but the fact remains that their actions are not aimed at benefiting or safeguarding the welfare of the citizens. Rather, the actions are orchestrated to enforce and maintain the control of the government over the citizens.
This paper also showed that censorship in the People’s Republic of China is not a new phenomenon. It is a feature that is as old and as rich as the country’s own culture. From the year 300 A.D., to the Qin Dynasty, to the rule of Mao Zedong and the current regime, censorship permeates successive 119regimes and seems a permanent feature in the country’s socio-economic and political landscape.
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Footnotes
David Goldberg, Stefaan Verhulst, and Tony Prosser, Regulating the Changing Media: A Comparative Study (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 207.
Vander Sprenkel, “The Red Guards in Perspective,” New Society 2 (1966): 455-456.
Sprenkel, 207.
Timothy Jay, Why we Curse: A Neuro-psycho-social Theory of Speech (New York: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2000), 209.
Stephen Karnow, Mao and China: Inside China’s Cultural Revolution (London: Penguin Books, 1984), 88.
Sprenkel, 456.
Sprenkel, 457.
Richard Howard, “Red Guards are Always Right,” New Society 67 (2007): 169-170.
Howard, 169.
Tang Tsou, The Cultural Revolution and Post-Mao Reforms: A Historical Perspective (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1986), 25.
Silvio Bedini, The Trail of Time: Shih-chien Ti Tsu-chi : Time Measurement with Incense in East Asia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 816.
Bedini, 816.
Bedini, 816.
Frank Adam, Falun Gong and the Threat of History (Denemark: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2004), 241.
Joseph Coetzee, Giving Offense: Essays on Censorship (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996), 86.
MacFarquhar Roderick and Michael Schoenhals, Mao’s Last Revolution (Harvard: Harvard University Press, 2006), 107.
Joseph Chesneaux, The People’s Republic Since 1949 (New York: Harvester Press, 1979), 82.
David Ownby, “A history for Falun Gong: Popular Religion and the Chinese state Since the Ming Dynasty,” Nova Religio 23 (2003): 223-243.
Chesneaux, 82.
Anne-Marie Brady, Marketing Dictatorship: Propaganda and Thought Work in Contemporary China (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008), 14.
Yu Smyer, “Delayed Contention with the Chinese Marxist Scapegoat Complex: Re-Membering Tibetan Buddhism in the PRC,” The Tibet Journal 32 (2007): 87-92.
Smyer, 92.
Chesneaux, 85.
Fernando Baez, A Universal History of the Destruction of Books (New York: Atlas & Co., 2008), 12.
Baez, 17.
Baez, 18.
Baez, 28.
Thomas Breslin, Beyond Pain: The Role of Pleasure and Culture in the Making of Foreign Affairs (Thousand Oaks: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001), 815.
Harry Harding, China’s Second Revolution: Reform After Mao (Brookings: Brookings Institution Press, 1987), 220.
Harding, 225.
Jonathan Hassid, “Controlling the Chinese Media: An Uncertain Business,” Asian Survey 48 (2008): 414-430.
Heins Marjorie, Not in Front of the Children: Indecency, Censorship, and the Innocence of Youth (New York: Hill and Wang, 2001), 28.
Ann Paludan, Chronicle of the China Emperors (London: Thames & Hudson, 1998), 224.
Karnow, 87.
Adam, 242.
Breslin, 814.
Karnow, 86.
Bedini, 820.
Paludan, 224.
Paludan, 225.
Tsou, 25.
Smyer, 90.
Jay, 208.
Shinn Supp, History of China, (Maryland: University of Maryland, 2010), 23.
Censorship which is a way of suppressing artistic work including speech and any other form of public communication has paused questions in the minds of people for a long time. The act, which many people especially artists try to clarify its need in the society aims to prevent obscene information believed to be harmful or sensitive from reaching citizens of a nation. It is significant to establish the roots of censorship and the reasons why most governments practice it. For sue, if it were not fit for human consumption, then no government including dictatorial ones would allow it. But why is it allowed and practiced yet objections and questions arise? This is where the puzzle begins.
Censorship is not an expression of democracy in a democratic nation where to fulfill democratic goals, there is need for freedom of creative expression, worship, speech and political opinion. Citing an example of Ulysses literature by James Joyce; believed to be obscene in the United States and censored for a decade, censorship restricts people from recognizing the value of creativity and expression. It also believes that censorship blocks people’s minds to new ideas but makes them to submit to the voice in authority (Driscoll and DiLascio p21.)
As a result of censorship, many citizens have lost their lives. Persons like Socrates, the Greek philosopher consumed poison because he was forced to, by the government. This is because he questioned the government acts. Many other artists like Lenny Bruce also spent several nights in jail as many others were silenced because of their creations believed to be obscene.
The argument here is that censorship is a means being used by conservative persons and groups with distinct interests to make life standards so difficult and unbearable for the minors in the society, in the name of protecting them from harmful content. Like the case of Christians in the United states who rejected a naked sculpture of Jesus from being displayed in a hotel in New York. The same applies to Muslims who do not allow cartoons depicting Mohamed to be published in newspapers. These artistic works according to the writer should form a basis of argument among democratic citizens in order to increase their knowledge and understanding of facts.
The source articulates the dangers of censorship and has got very elaborate supportive points. The problem is that the writer is biased towards the problems and completely avoids talking about the benefits of censorship. Neither does the work try to understand the reasons to why censorship was introduced. Does it mean that the introducers of censorship only wanted to manipulate and kill people and their ideas?
Looking at the origin of censorship, societies are made of different taboos, beliefs and practices. To ensure that these are upheld, there was need to censor some information that would corrupt the beliefs and practices. As much as senior officials would use censorship to avoid critic, it was considered an initiative to enhance the cultural practices and to ensure harmony amongst members living in a society. The most silenced issues considered offensive are sexual and inciting in nature (“Global Internet Liberty Campaign: What is Censorship?” par. 3).
The article continues to add that censorship differs in forms. They include censorship by intimidation and consensus. It is considered that when a nation agrees to a given common code that all citizens should observe, censoring critical ideas relating to it is not a problem. The problem is that not all people in state would agree to a common code since everyone has his or her own idea on an issue. This article as well expresses the different ways in which censorship may not be palatable to people in a nation. It portrays the idea that knowing what is obscene depends on the person viewing the program. This brings the question, “who should define what is obscene?” as much as the article never takes any sides, it give full view of the act and provides a basis for understanding the idea behind censorship.
Conclusion
The arguments in all of these articles are true and realistic. Censorship is a vital way of ensuring peace and harmony in the society as well as establishing good morals in people. This is because it regulates what is to be said and expressed and what is to be taken in by members of a society. But truly speaking and in my view, censorship is intolerant, thwarting people’s critical thinking ability resulting to a chilling society. Censorship should not occur in a country or state where freedom of choice is a right to every citizen. Members of the society should be allowed to evaluate materials they access and make their own conclusions whether they need it or not. Self censorship does best since people have a choice to take or reject an art. Democratic governments should therefore stop restricting their citizens from accessing what is necessary to them and force them to take what they do not want. For children who cannot reason on their own, their parents should decide for them what to take or consume. I find censorship not acceptable.
Works Cited
Driscoll, Sally and DiLascio, Tracey M. Censorship and Democracy: Great Neck Publishing. Web.